South Africa
South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world. Together with our local partner organisation LifeLine, we support survivors of sexual abuse, offer medical medical, psychological and legal help, and carry out important prevention work.
Hear from the people on the ground
Thuli Khoza
from Umzinkhulu
29 years old
In South Africa, gender-based violence (GBV) frequently goes unreported, especially in townships and rural areas, where affected women and girls often receive too little support. Violent crime, sexual abuse and homicide have increased sharply in recent years. Every 8 minutes, a woman or girl is the victim of rape. Many survivors remain silent out of fear or because of dependency, as the perpetrators are often family members. A lack of knowledge also prevents victims from exercising their rights and making use of the available support services. The number of unreported cases remains high, as convictions rarely lead to prison sentences and many perpetrators are released early.
The aim is to strengthen young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Harry Gwala district and to reduce gender-based violence (GBV).
In the last project phase, 19,560 children, teenagers and young adults benefitted from our work.
LifeLine was founded in 1972 and works according to the ‘Community Resolution Approach’, which aims to change values and social structures in order to promote equality and reduce violence. The project team works closely with community leaders, community members and local hospitals. terre des hommes schweiz has been supporting LifeLine since 2010.
Pietermaritzburg is the capital of the province of KwaZulu-Natal. We operate in the Harry Gwala district, a region characterised by poverty, violence and social inequality. The current project phase covers the years 2024–2026 with an annual budget of CHF 75,000.
terre des hommes schweiz
Kasernenhof 8
4058 Basel