Bring your skill.
We will hold the structure.
Rise Against Domestic Violence SA supports survivors across South Africa and overseas, online only, led by the founder alongside a qualified volunteer team. We work in a calm, structured way because survivors deserve consistency. If you have professional skill to offer and you want it to land somewhere that matters, we would love to meet you.
Rise runs entirely online. We ask volunteers to show up 4 to 5 times a week, and that does not mean hours a day. For a legal volunteer it might be answering a survivor's question. For a counsellor it could be a single session. For a support volunteer it is replying inside the groups, holding space when someone is struggling.
Your time matters. Your life outside Rise matters. We work in a way that respects both.
Every survivor who reaches us is supported by a real person giving real time, professional skill, and steadiness inside a caring, structured environment.
If you are ready to bring your professional skills to meaningful, survivor-centred work, we would love to hear from you.
Two volunteer pathways.
Rise volunteers fall into two qualified pathways. Each pathway has clear professional requirements that protect survivors and protect you.
Legal Volunteers
- Admitted Attorneys or Advocates, 3+ years experience
- Retired Magistrates
- Experience in domestic violence, protection orders, harassment, maintenance, parenting plans, family law, or criminal law
- Strong understanding of legal process and procedural guidance
- Commitment to professional ethics and responsible legal practice
Counselling Volunteers
- Relevant qualification in Psychology, Social Work, BPsych, or equivalent
- Registered with HPCSA, SACSSP, or ASCHP
- Trauma-informed, or willing to complete free trauma-informed training provided by Rise
- Commitment to professional ethics and scope of practice
Trained, supported, held by the team.
Rise volunteers receive structured training, formal certification, and ongoing access to the resources they need to do this work properly.
Trained by The Centre for Healing.
Rise volunteers complete trauma-informed certification through The Centre for Healing, an internationally recognised training organisation based in Australia. The 20 hour programme is valued at 700 AUD and offered free. Rise has a standing arrangement to direct our volunteers straight to it. Over 30 Rise volunteers have completed it in the last year alone.
For Legal Volunteers
Legal volunteers are not required to complete the certification, but we strongly encourage it. The training deepens trauma awareness and is highly beneficial for your own legal practice or workplace beyond Rise.
For Counsellors, Interns, and Support Volunteers
If you are holding direct survivor support space, the certification is required before you begin. This protects survivors and grounds you in the practice from day one.
The Rise Drive
Training videos, orientation material, intake procedures, forms, governance documents, and operational resources all live on the Rise Drive. Always available, always updated. Leadership stays available to answer questions throughout your time at Rise.
Inside the Rise WhatsApp community.
Rise operates entirely online. Most of the work happens inside structured WhatsApp groups: where survivors meet our team, where our team coordinates behind the scenes, and where peer support spaces hold survivors together.
Legal Advice Group.
The survivor-facing group. Once intake clears a survivor, they enter this group to receive welcome, group rules, and direct access to legal volunteers who answer questions inside the group.
Legal Advice Group
Open weekdays. Weekends optional.
Survivor enters after intake
Survivors only join the group after intake has reviewed their matter, confirmed eligibility, and identified the support they need.
Welcome and group rules shared
The Intake Lead welcomes the survivor and shares group rules immediately. Confidentiality, scope, and conduct expectations are clear from the first message.
Survivors ask questions in group
Survivors can ask legal questions directly. No appointments needed. Just ask, and any available legal volunteer can pick it up.
Available volunteers respond
You respond inside your professional scope when you are available. Nobody is on call all day. We respect time, capacity, and sustainable volunteering.
Open weekends, no pressure
The group stays open over weekends. Reply if you can. There is no expectation. We encourage active engagement during the working week.
Legal Admin Group.
The volunteer and leadership group. This is where matters are routed, scope is confirmed, oversight happens, and complex cases are discussed before responses are given to survivors.
Legal Admin Group
Volunteers and leadership only.
Intake routes the matter
Complex or sensitive matters are flagged in the Admin Group first. Intake notes are shared so the right volunteer can pick the matter up.
Volunteers confirm scope
Volunteers confirm they are not conflicted, they have capacity, and the matter falls inside their professional scope before taking it on.
Heads provide oversight
The Head of Legal and Head of Counselling provide oversight, ethical guidance, and case escalation when needed. You are never alone in a difficult matter.
Drafted guidance returns
Once oversight is complete, drafted guidance returns to the Legal Advice Group so the survivor receives a calm, considered response.
Email used only when needed
WhatsApp is the working environment. Email is used only when a matter is detailed, requires formal clarification, or needs a written record.
Women Support Group.
A peer support space for women survivors. Volunteer moderated, calm, and safe. This is where survivors hold each other up between formal support touchpoints.
Women Support Group
Survivors supporting survivors. Volunteer moderated.
Peer support, survivor to survivor
Survivors talk to other survivors in their own words. Recognition without explanation. Connection without judgement.
Volunteer moderated
A volunteer is always present in the background, holding the space gently, stepping in only when needed.
Calm and safe
Group rules protect everyone. No advice, no pressure, no judgement. Just real recognition between women who have lived it.
Open all week
The group runs every day. Members come and go as their lives allow. Some days quiet, some days busy.
Volunteers carry the weight gently
Volunteers do not need to fix anything. Their role is to hold the space steady so survivors can support each other safely.
Men Support Group.
A peer support space for men survivors. Same structure, same care. Volunteer moderated, calm, safe, and built for the survivors who often carry this alone.
Men Support Group
Survivors supporting survivors. Volunteer moderated.
A space for men survivors
Men survivors are too often missed in this work. Rise creates a dedicated space where their experiences are recognised and honoured.
Survivor to survivor
Members speak in their own words, share their own experiences, and recognise each other without needing to perform or explain.
Volunteer moderated
A volunteer holds the space quietly. Their role is to keep it safe, calm, and grounded, not to lead the conversation.
No pressure to share
Some members read in silence for weeks before they post. That is welcome here. Presence matters more than performance.
Recognition and care
The strength of this group is in the recognition. One man saying he is not alone changes things for every man reading.
Counselling Admin Group.
The counselling team coordination space. Counsellors, interns, and the Head of Counselling work together here to allocate sessions, manage timesheets, and hold space for each other.
Counselling Admin Group
Counsellors, interns, and Head of Counselling.
Intakes routed for allocation
The Head of Intake routes counselling matters into the group. Counsellors with capacity respond to take cases.
Head of Counselling allocates
Once a counsellor confirms availability, the Head of Counselling formally allocates the matter and shares intake highlights privately.
Intern timesheets and accountability
Interns submit their timesheets weekly. Founder oversight keeps governance, accountability, and structure in place.
Weekly peer support call
The Head of Counselling holds a weekly peer support call. Drop in for a debrief, case guidance, or simply to be held by your team.
Sustainable practice
Counsellors work according to their own schedules. The group respects boundaries, capacity, and the emotional weight of this work.
How Rise volunteers operate.
Tap a pathway to see how it operates day to day.
- Placed in legal spaces only
- Reply to survivor legal questions inside the Legal Advice Group
- Attend the Online Law Clinic on a voluntary basis
- Active engagement is encouraged 4 to 5 times a week, no daily hours required
- Communication runs through WhatsApp, with email used for the occasional matter that needs a written record
- Escalate out of scope matters to the Head of Legal
- No casework, no court documents, no representation
- No private contact with survivors outside Rise platforms
- Operate under POPIA and Rise governance
- Placed in counselling spaces only
- Hold sessions and reply inside survivor support groups
- Work to your own availability, coordinated with the Head of Counselling
- Communication runs through WhatsApp, email where formal
- Access to internal supervision and debriefing
- Escalate out of scope matters to the Head of Counselling
- No private contact with survivors outside Rise platforms
- Operate under POPIA and Rise governance
Five non-negotiables.
This is structured, responsible work that impacts real lives. These five things are not optional.
Ready to contribute?
If you meet the criteria and are committed to disciplined, meaningful impact, complete the volunteer application form. Together, we strengthen access to justice, healing, and informed support for survivors across South Africa.
Open Volunteer Application