Shelters housing women who have experienced abuse: Policy, funding and practice


Date: May 6, 2013
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South Africa’s Domestic Violence Act (DVA) (116 of 1998) places an obligation on members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to provide specified services to victims of domestic violence. These services include referring and transferring women to shelters. The Act is, however, silent on whose statutory duty it is to provide and fund those shelters. The result is inadequate provision of shelter services. This, in turn, means that the police often cannot assist women in this respect. This report sets out existing policy and practice in relation to provision and funding of shelter services. It then provides a profile of five shelters in Gauteng province. These case studies give a picture of the women who currently access these services, the needs of these women, and the extent to which the shelters are able to meet these needs
with currently available funding. The report concludes with a summary of the findings from the case studies.


Publisher: Heinrich Boll Stiftung & Tshwaranang legal Advocacy Centre
Year of Publication: 2012

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