The impact of victim empowerment centres

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Pages: 212-223
• Published date: 16 August 2019
• Author: DT Masiloane
• Citation: (2010) 23 SACJ 212
• Date: 16 August 2019

The impact of victim empowerment

centres

DT MASILOANE* & AM KNOCK**

ABSTRACT

When crime is committed the main focus of the police is to arrest and pros-

ecute the offender/s. The victim, who is the violated party, is excluded from

the process and only gets involved when he or she testif‌ies in order to assist

the prosecution to obtain a conviction. The victim empowerment centres

were some of the structures that were created to promote the interests of

the victims and to assist them to overcome the adverse effects of crime. This

includes familiarising the victims with the criminal justice system to alleviate

the anxiety of being involved in a system that could be completely foreign

to them.

The operation and effectiveness of victim empowerment centres is crucial

for the protection and the promotion of the victim’s rights in the criminal

justice system. Having been established in most police stations throughout

the country, it is important to determine their effectiveness. The study used

the objectives of the victim empowerment centres that are situated in police

stations to determine their effectiveness in dealing with crime victims.

1. Introduction

Police stations are the victim’s f‌irst point of access to the criminal justice

system. According to Holtman,1 the police can benef‌it by treating each

and every victim correctly right from the start. They also have to be

mindful of the fact that they deal with crime victims who are overcome

by fear, anger and shame. The f‌irst contact is crucial because it is at this

stage that the victim’s perception – whether positive or negative – of

the criminal justice system, particularly that of the police, is formed.

This paper intends to use evaluative studies to establish the effective-

ness of the victim empowerment centres that are situated in police

stations. The effectiveness of these centres was benchmarked against

the aims and the objectives of the victim empowerment centres, as

stipulated in the National Crime Prevention Strategy, Charter for the

Victims of Crime and the National Instruction number 22/1998 of the

South African Police Service, on how to deal with victims.

* DLitt et Phil, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, College of Law, School of Criminal Jus-

tice, UNISA.

** Hons BA in Criminology, Research Assistant, College of Law, School of Criminal Jus-

tice, UNISA.

1 B Holtman ‘Victim Empowerment’ SAPS Journal (2002) 6(2) 12-13.

212

(2010) 23 SACJ 212

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd