As part of Women's Day celebrations, Rape Crisis Cape Town will tomorrow unveil its app, RapeCrisis, on Mxit. The portal will form part of the social media platform's MySafety app, which was launched earlier this year in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education and LEAD SA's Stop Rape campaign.
Mxit VP for communications Sarah Rice says research conducted by Rape Crisis in 2011 shows a lack of information and poor understanding of how the criminal justice system works are key factors in preventing rape survivors from accessing justice. It is hoped the portal will vastly improve accessibility to information, particularly in poorer and rural communities.
"MySafety was launched in February 2013 in response to the Anene Booysen tragedy," says Rice. "When it launched, it contained information on how to avoid dangerous situations and individual's rights, as well as access to apps such as MAC911, and live counselling apps Angel and Childline." She says MySafety now has almost 170 000 subscribers.
RapeCrisis will offer women an information package on the steps that follow after becoming a victim of rape, including disclosure, reporting to police, a forensic examination and medical treatment, police investigation, court proceedings and counselling.
Rape Crisis director Kathleen Dey says the mission is to act as a bridge between the rape survivor and the criminal justice system. "The value of the Mxit mobile social network is that it is an inexpensive, easily accessible tool with enormous reach as it can work on nearly any phone. Women in poor and rural communities might not otherwise have had access to this vital information."
Mxit currently has 7.3 million monthly active users, of which 6.5 million are in SA. RapeCrisis is free to download.
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