From Frontline Experience to Policy: Ilitha Labantu’s Role in Strengthening Victim Support

Why survivor-centred legislation matters

Ilitha Labantu’s decades of frontline experience supporting survivors of gender-based violence continue to inform its contribution to research, policy and advocacy. This includes engagement around the Victim Support Services Bill, an important policy initiative aimed at strengthening the support and protection available to victims and survivors of violent crime.

The Bill provides for psychosocial and legal support for victims and survivors and includes an obligation on the State to provide support for legal costs where victims wish to pursue civil claims for damages against perpetrators. It also provides for the accreditation of service providers and the vetting of employees against the Child Protection Register and National Register for Sexual Offenders.

The legislation is particularly relevant to Ilitha Labantu’s work because it speaks directly to the types of support that survivors need when navigating the consequences of violence. For an organisation providing counselling, psychosocial support, legal assistance, referrals and other services, frontline experience provides an important perspective on where systems work, where gaps remain and what survivors need from institutions.

Speaking at Ilitha Labantu’s Annual High Tea, Minister of Social Development Dina Pule recognised the organisation’s role in supporting survivors and holding government accountable for its response to GBVF. She described Ilitha Labantu as a “pillar of safety for survivors” and acknowledged the importance of grassroots organisations whose experience can help ensure that survivors’ lived realities inform national policy.

Minister Pule noted that the Bill was being finalised for tabling before Cabinet and Parliament during the current financial year. She also emphasised the need for government to draw on organisations such as Ilitha Labantu as legislation and survivor-support systems are strengthened.

For Ilitha Labantu, policy engagement is an extension of its frontline work: bringing the realities experienced by survivors and communities into national conversations, advocating for stronger systems and helping ensure that laws and policies translate into meaningful support.

Read the full Department of Social Development media release