Services and Projects

Core Strategies

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SAFFI Model

Advocacy

Sacred Conversations

Psycho-Social Support Services

Men's Work

Theological Advisory Council on Gender Based Violence

How we work

At SAFFI we Believe That:

Religious Leaders and faith communities have a pivotal role to play in addressing VAW.
Collaboration between the faith sector and Collaboration between the faith sector and domestic violence advocates / service providers is central in our quest to break the cycle of VAW.
Victims / Survivors should Not have to carry the extra burden of having to decide between their safety and their faith.
Perpetrators must be held accountable for their abusive behaviour and offered culturally informed zero tolerance restorative justice interventions.
Children must grow up in a society where honour and respect for the human dignity of women & each person is the order of the day.

SAFFI Embraces Internationally Held Goals in all its Strategies & Services:

SAFETY for the woman and children.
ACCOUNTABILITY for the abuser.
RESTORATION of individuals and,

IF POSSIBLE, restoration of the relationship

MOURN the loss of the relationship.

In addition to our core strategies we also offer additional services such as:

Educational Talks
Perpetrator Intervention Programs
Gender Reconciliation Workshops
Research and Advocacy
Technical support to Community-based DV Initiatives

Please contact us to enquire about these services.

Reach Us

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Office:

73 Burns Road, Salt River, Cape Town, 7915

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+27 21 462 2277

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+27 21 462 2276

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programs@saffi.org.za

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Psycho-Social Services

SAFFI offers psycho-social services and counselling for religious leaders and their families. This is in line with SAFFI’s aim of making the family a space where everyone, including religious leaders themselves, is supported and respected. Pre-marital counselling support workshops for religious leaders have also formed part of this service.

Theological Advisory Council on Gender Based Violence

SAFFI established the Theological Advisory Council on Gender-Based Violence (TACGBV) in 2014. The TACGBV brings together theologians, scholars and religious leaders from diverse religions and denominations for the purpose of addressing easily misinterpreted scriptures, religious teachings and practices as it relates to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in intimate relationships, homes and communities. Members of the TACGBV are purposefully selected with the aim of reaching a wide variety of denominations and religious traditions and specific attempts are made to secure both women and men for the purpose of drawing on the different perspectives and insights that they bring. This council also intends to bring together diverse theological convictions and insights which speaks to the complex nature of GBV and faith. The TACGBV assists in developing helpful resources which SAFFI incorporates into its training and support services for religious leaders and faith communities.

The TACGBV also serves the purpose of stretching its members to consider specific themes and apply their minds and hearts as they offer crucial insights and helpful theological guidance from scriptures and ancient teachings to address GBV concerns. In the past these insights have been written by members of the TACGBV and published and presented at conferences / consultations hosted by SAFFI which resulted in two publications. In 2015/2016 the TACGBV discussed, “Theological reflections on Root Causes of Abuse of women in intimate relationships – A Resource for Faith Leaders” and in 2017 the topic was “Faith-Based Interventions with Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Abuse – What Guidance do we get from Holy Scriptures and Ancient Teachings?”

SAFFI Model

Equip religious leaders/faith communities with basic knowledge about the complex dynamics and faith dimensions related to GBV in intimate relationships, families and communities.

Deepen religious leaders/faith communities’ understanding about the theoretical frameworks relating to root causes and contributing factors relating to violence against women.

Share information about the legislative frameworks operative in the South African context.

Equip religious leaders and faith communities with basic skills to support domestic violence victims / survivors, their children and abusers.

In practice the religious leaders are brought into one day Sensitizer workshops, which is followed by comprehensive 5 day training and follow-up monitoring. The focus is on prevention of GBV in intimate relationships and families through preaching and pastoral /spiritual care.

The overall objective of the SAFFI Training Model is aimed at strengthening the pastoral care capacity of Religious leaders and faith communities and other government and civil society organisations working to contribute towards the reduction and eradication of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in intimate relationships and families. The trainings facilitate self-reflection and skills development. In these trainings SAFFI, together with the Religious leaders, critique the faith sectors current understandings of gender and GBV and find new reactive and proactive strategies which can be used in future. This aims to empower and mobilise Religious leaders, lay counsellors and faith communities to more adequately engage with work in relation to gender relations and GBV. Support networks between SAFFI, the Religious leaders and the community are created in these trainings so that the work becomes sustainable and long-term. The SAFFI Model aims to:• Equip religious leaders/faith communities with basic knowledge about the complex dynamics and faith dimensions related to GBV in intimate relationships, families and communities.• Deepen religious leaders/faith communities’ understanding about the theoretical frameworks relating to root causes and contributing factors relating to violence against women.• Share information about the legislative frameworks operative in the South African context.• Equip religious leaders and faith communities with basic skills to support domestic violence victims / survivors, their children and abusers.In practice the religious leaders are brought into one day Sensitizer workshops, which is followed by comprehensive 5 day training and follow-up monitoring. The focus is on prevention of GBV in intimate relationships and families through preaching and pastoral /spiritual care.

Sacred Conversations

SAFFI’s Sacred Conversations are dialogues which take place around very specific issues or themes – which have become issues for those whom we work with or which have been raised as national or international priorities. SAFFI’s conversation offer victims, perpetrators and members of faith communities the opportunity to talk about issues pertaining to for example, same sex relations, violence against women, and to explore the challenges and opportunities which exist in binging hope and healing to individuals and families who have been affected by Gender-Based Violence.