Housing Women Who Have Experienced Abuse: Policy, Funding and Practice [Gauteng]

The Minimum Standards on Shelters for Abused Women recognises that ‘shelters represent an absolutely critical point of crisis intervention’ and places a duty on the Department of Social Development to ensure that shelter interventions are able to meet basic needs and provide support, counselling and skills development to women. In order to deliver quality services however, shelters must have adequate resources.

Shelters housing women who have experienced abuse: policy, funding and practice is the first of a series of shadow reports conducted by the Heinrich Boell Foundation (HBF) and the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC). This Gauteng based study sets out existing policy and practice in relation to the provision and funding of shelter services and also profiles five shelters in the Gauteng province. The report assesses whether shelters have sufficient resources to meet the legitimate needs of women and children seeking refuge from domestic violence in the home.

The HBF/TLAC project, titled ‘Enhancing State Response to Gender Based Violence’, seeks to promote more just outcomes for survivors of rape and domestic violence through enhancing the capacity of civil society to hold the state accountable for delivering services to women at the forefront of rights abuses. The project is funded by the European Union.