GRIP Helps Male Survivor Achieve Justice

GRIP supported a 21 year old male survivor throughout his court case. He was raped at the age of 15 years old by his father’s friend who threatened him with death not to tell anyone. The survivor felt scared and ashamed and kept this secret to himself for some days until his mother realised that something was wrong and confronted him. The survivor opened up to his mom who took him to the hospital for medical treatment. He received support from GRIP First Responders and one of our Social Workers. It took a long time for his trial date to be finalised. During this time, he continued to see GRIP staff. In preparation for his trial, he was invited him to attend pre court training on 3 different occasions as the Friends of the Court wanted to ensure that he was ready to testify. On the day of this trial, the survivor testified in court since he was now above 18 years of age. He was able to clearly state the facts of his case and handed the trial very well. Because he was so well prepared, his case was watertight and his perpetrator received a life sentence. The Survivor has since restarted his studies and is doing well.