The Flomotion Victim Empowerment Programme is a registered Non Profit Organisation administered by Flomotion, with support from the South African Police Service, emergency services and local community policing forums. Our pilot project is currently underway in Florida, Johannesburg but we are able to provide support with setting up similar programmes across the rest of Gauteng Province. In line with South Africa’s National Crime Prevention Strategy and National Policy Guidelines on Victim Empowerment, we focus on restorative justice for victims of trauma, at no cost to the victims themselves. This approach is fully in concert with international trends over the past decade to promote a victim-centred approach to criminal justice. Our professional, motivated and highly-trained counsellors
-provide empathetic, person-centred assistance to victims of crime and other traumatic incidents in the form of counselling
-attend to the victim’s emotional needs and stability
assist with access to emergency and social services
-offer support during the justice process
-provide services on behalf of the victim in terms of their rights
-and assist with prevention strategies to prevent repeat traumatisation. While our focus is on providing initial trauma debriefing to victims of crime, we also refer victims to medical and professional service providers if further counseling is required. We also offer the following services, among others:
- We create awareness at schools on the dangers of drugs and being involved in gangs. We invite motivational speakers to address students at local schools.
- We conduct group debriefing after incidents involving multiple victims.
- We facilitate educational talks and workshops to empower individuals on how to deal with trauma.
- We report general statistics (i.e. no identifying or personal information) about the cases we work on to the South African Police Service and relevant Community Policing Forum.
- We develop a client information database for ease of communication and intervention. Our counsellors are drawn from various backgrounds and include teachers, paramedics, social workers and drug rehabilitation workers among others. They are all volunteers and have been thoroughly vetted by Flomotion and the South African Police Service. If you are interested in joining our team of motivated, professional counsellors or looking to set up your own victim empowerment programme in your suburb or area, please email vep@flomotion.co.za. A counselling background is preferred but not necessary as training will be made available to you through Flomotion’s training services.
