ASERAC™ (Abuse Survivors Empowerment and Restoration Advocacy Centre)

**C**ounselling & Consulting, **A**wareness & Advocating, **R**estoring & Researching, **E**mpowering & Enrolling, **S**urvivors of **A**buse. ASERAC describes itself as providing "Biblically Balanced and Psychologically Sound training, support, counselling, and expert guidance" to help survivors rebuild their lives — with a stated commitment to moving people from ignorance to empowerment and from victim to conqueror. Its scope of abuse types is unusually broad, encompassing four categories: **Religious/ritual trauma and abuse** (including traumatic religious practices, occult and Satanic practices, witchcraft, dangerous cults, African Traditional practices, and ritual abuse — a category that many mainstream GBV services are poorly equipped to address); **Psycho-emotional trauma and abuse** (emotional abuse, mind control, ideological indoctrination, psychological and emotional harm); **Socio-cultural trauma and abuse** (relationship abuse, cultural abuse, social/cultural isolation, cross-cultural trauma); and **Physical trauma and abuse** (hijacking, robbery, hostage trauma, physical abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse). ASERAC delivers a multi-level volunteer and professional training programme (Levels 1–4), equipping community members and church volunteers to identify, support, refer, and help survivors of occult-related trauma and abuse — including Level 4 supervised training specifically for working with victims of occult-related trauma under professional oversight in Pretoria. ASERAC networks with and provides services to other NGOs and government departments sharing its goals, and adheres to the Constitution of South Africa. It does not operate as a walk-in shelter or 24-hour helpline; for immediate crisis support, survivors should contact the GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428.

Counselling & Therapy Education & Training GBV Support

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About

It is a faith-informed, clinically aware South African NPO that works with survivors of severe and complex abuse — bringing together Biblically grounded ethics and psychological rigour to provide counselling, consulting, training, advocacy, and restoration support.

Acronym as Mission

ASERAC's name encodes its entire mandate: - C — Counselling & Consulting - A — Awareness & Advocating - R — Restoring & Researching - E — Empowering & Enrolling - S — Survivors of - A — Abuse

The aim, as stated in ASERAC's materials, is to render a consulting, educating, and counselling service to survivors, their significant others, and the organisations that serve them — in order to raise community awareness of the reality of extreme forms of abuse, advocate for victims, restore them, empower them, and support their re-integration into community life. Ultimately, ASERAC's goal is that survivors can reinvest their experience and skills to help others.

Types of Abuse and Trauma ASERAC Addresses

ASERAC works across four distinct and often intersecting categories of trauma:

1. Religious/Ritual Trauma and Abuse: Traumatic Christian practices (spiritual abuse within church contexts); Satanic and occult practices; witchcraft-related trauma; dangerous cults; African Traditional practices where harm has occurred; ritual abuse. This category covers terrain that is frequently misunderstood, trivialised, or ignored in mainstream counselling settings, and yet is deeply real for many South Africans.

2. Psycho-Emotional Trauma and Abuse: Emotional abuse; mind control and psychological coercion; ideological indoctrination; general psychological and emotional harm.

3. Socio-Cultural Trauma and Abuse: Relationship abuse; cultural abuse (practices that harm under cover of culture); social and cultural isolation; cross-cultural adaptation trauma.

4. Physical Trauma and Abuse: Hijacking and robbery trauma; hostage situations; physical abuse; sexual abuse; drug and substance abuse.

Training Programme

ASERAC has developed a structured multi-level training programme for community members, church volunteers, and professionals who want to be equipped to identify, support, and refer survivors of complex and occult-related trauma:

Level 1 — Theoretical Overview: Identify, Assess, Support, and Help Victims of Occult-Related Trauma or Abuse (venues in Kempton Park area and Benoni)
Levels 2 and 3 — Progressive skills development
Level 4 — Support Supervised Training: Helping Victims of Occult Related Trauma and Abuse (Pretoria; for Level 1–3 completers)

Training has been delivered in person (including at Revival House, Benoni) and online. This programme is relevant to pastors, social workers, community volunteers, healthcare providers, and anyone in a front-line care role who encounters survivors whose trauma has religious, ritual, or occult dimensions.

Networking and Referral

ASERAC is explicitly positioned as a networked resource — it works with and renders services to NGOs and government departments sharing its goals. For organisations encountering survivors of ritual abuse, cult trauma, or occult-related harm and needing specialist consultation, ASERAC offers a unique resource in Gauteng.

Relevance to GBV Survivors

ASERAC is not a walk-in shelter or 24-hour helpline. For immediate crisis support, survivors must be directed to the GBV Command Centre (0800 428 428) or SAPS (10111). But for survivors whose abuse has been framed within religious, ritual, or occult contexts — a form of GBV that intersects with spiritual coercion and for which most standard services are unprepared — ASERAC represents one of the only specifically equipped resources in Gauteng. Social workers, counsellors, and community volunteers encountering these cases should be aware of ASERAC as both a direct service provider and a specialist training and consulting resource.

ASERAC™: Cypress Road 4B, Alpha House, Kempton Park, 1619, Gauteng. Phone: 011 023 7376. Email: info@aserac.co.za. Website: aserac.co.za. Hours: Mon–Fri 09:00–16:30.