Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse | Counselling

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Counselling Services

Objective	To empower survivors of abuse to be able to deal with the abuse in a constructive way through counselling.
Activities and services	Counselling and support services HIV/AIDS and abuse support group Case management Self Help groups	Legal unit Research Referral system Statistics (to come) Clients stories (to come)	enlarge
Counselling	Counselling is a process of helping people to help themselves and to come to terms with their feelings. The counsellor establishes an environment of trust and safety that enables clients to: Explore their problems freely Understand their problems and the need for constructive action See what options are available for them Manage their problems by taking appropriate action.
Who needs counselling?	Primary and secondary survivors of abuse need counselling. Primary survivors are those who are affected directly, for instance, they may have been raped, battered, molested, insulted, threatened or treated in any way that has caused injury either physically or emotionally. Secondary survivors are those who have knowledge or have witnessed an abusive act inflicted on a relative, friends or colleagues and have consequently been affected by this act.
Activities and Services
Counselling and support services	This service offers a collaborative exploration between the survivors and SWAGAA in hope that surviovors can identify their own lasting solutions. e.g family and couples counselling, individual and toll free (95), crisis counselling counselling. The counselling fee coveres 3 counselling sessions and any legal counselling needed. all clients will be required to pay a E10 counselling fee. Please briung the receipt and your appointment card to each visit.
HIV/AIDS and abuse support group	SWAGAA has a support group for people who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and who have experienced abuse. It is a group of 6-10 people, completely confidential, meets once a month at Manzini office and run by our HIV/AIDS focal person/counsellor. The group is a supportive place to safely discuss issues of abuse and HIV/AIDS with others. There is also time to ask questions about HIV/AIDS, Voluntary Counselling Testing (VCT), etc. There is no fee and any SWAGAA service user can attend.
Case Management	Complex cases and urgent cases, eg., ones needing multiple referrals Gives clients support eg., transport to hospital/police if no other option Builds relationships with other stakeholders
Self Help Groups (SHG)	Part of our Prevention Program: 31 groups in four communities • Designed to help poor communities to save from the little income they have • Groups save from as litle as E0.50 a wk (US $0.07) • Groups are assisted to generate income • SHG's provide loans to group members to enable them to conduct income generating activities
Legal unit	• Legal Advice and assistance on areas related to abuse • Networking with agencies involved in legal issues • Advocating for law reform • Community education on legal issues • Court preparation - empowers survivors of abuse to have a basic understanding of the court process and how they need to co-operate with the court to ensure that perpetrators are convicted as per their offence(s).
Undertake research	Exploration of gender-based violence (GBV) related subjects like child sexual abuse, etc.
Referral system	SWAGAA co-operates closely with other service providers and certain clients are referred to appropriate institutions if necessary, e.g., Social Welfare, Council of Swaziland Churches, 'Save the Children', hospitals, food support services, shelters and the Domestic Violence and Child Protection unit.