What this life looks like
You support survivors of one of Africa's most pervasive human rights violations. Domestic Violence Counsellors provide trauma-informed counselling, safety planning, and support to survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and family abuse — helping them to access safety, rebuild their lives, and heal from trauma. In Africa, where gender-based violence affects millions and stigma, cultural norms, and inadequate services compound the harm, this work is both urgently needed and deeply challenging.
What she actually does
You conduct trauma-informed assessments of survivors' safety, mental health, and needs, provide individual and group counselling using trauma-focused approaches, develop safety plans, support survivors to access legal, medical, housing, and economic services, facilitate survivor support groups, train community members and professionals on recognising and responding to GBV, provide testimony support for survivors pursuing legal action, and manage the emotional demands of this work through professional supervision and self-care.
Where you can work
| Sector | Places in Africa |
|---|---|
| Shelters & Crisis Centres | Advice Desk for Abused Women (SA), POWA (SA), FIDA Nigeria GBV centres, FHOK (Kenya) |
| Hospitals | Thuthuzela Care Centres (SA), one-stop GBV centres across East and West Africa, hospital social work GBV teams |
| UN & International | UNFPA GBV, UNHCR protection, UN Women GBV — major UN funders and implementers of GBV response |
| NGOs | Raising Voices (Uganda), African Women's Development Fund, Gender Links (SA) — GBV-focused organisations |
Why it matters in Africa
One in three African women has experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner — making gender-based violence one of the continent's most widespread human rights violations. The COVID-19 pandemic drove a 'shadow pandemic' of increased domestic violence. Legal protection, specialist services, and societal support for survivors are profoundly inadequate across most of the continent. Domestic violence counsellors who can provide trauma-informed support and connect survivors to safety are doing work that changes and saves lives.
Your pathway in
- Study Psychology, Social Work, Counselling, or Gender Studies at university
- Pursue specialist training in trauma-informed care and GBV counselling — UNHCR's GBV Case Management training and UNFPA's clinical management of rape training are foundational
- Build knowledge of GBV referral pathways in your country and the services available to survivors
- Develop personal resilience and professional supervision practices — vicarious trauma is a real and serious risk in this work
- Connect with SVRI (Sexual Violence Research Initiative), UNFPA GBV, and national GBV coordination bodies
Skills you will need
- Trauma-informed counselling
- Safety planning with survivors
- GBV case management
- Referral pathway navigation
- Group therapy for survivors
- Professional self-care and supervision
A woman in this field
Nomfundo Mogapi
South Africa
Nomfundo is a renowned South African registered clinical psychologist and executive leader with over 20 years of technical experience in trauma intervention, psychosocial support (MHPSS), and violence prevention. She is the Founder and CEO of the Centre for Mental Wellness and Leadership and formerly served as the Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). Nomfundo's operational focus sits at the heart of trauma-informed care. Throughout her career she has provided critical counseling, group therapy, and rehabilitation models to survivors of severe political, domestic, and gender-based violence.
Take your first step
- Research the Thuthuzela Care Centres in South Africa — they are one-stop, trauma-informed GBV response centres that integrate medical care, counselling, and legal services for survivors, and represent the gold standard of GBV response in Africa
- Study trauma-informed care principles: understanding how trauma affects the brain, body, and behaviour is foundational for anyone working with GBV survivors — free training is available through the Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Centre
- Research Raising Voices at raisingvoices.org — they are a Uganda-based GBV prevention organisation whose SASA! programme is one of the most rigorously evaluated community-level GBV prevention approaches in Africa
- Connect with the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) at svri.org — they publish the most comprehensive catalogue of GBV research in Africa and globally