GBV

Our partners at the National Shelter Movement of South Africa have launched their own 24-hour toll-free Shelter Helpline. This is the first national helpline exclusively dedicated to helping victims of domestic abuse access shelter services in each of the nine provinces, while also assisting with a variety of other issues that impact survivors. The call centre is based in Cape Town and is currently operated by three social workers. Read the full press release here.

Domestic violence puzzles people. Why does one person in a relationship abuse another; why does the one being abused stay in this relationship; and what should those who know about this do about it? The solution to these dilemmas, proposed by the Department of Justice in its amendments to the 1998 Domestic Violence Act, is this: that everybody must report any knowledge of domestic violence to the police or a social worker – or face criminal charges. This article, based on a submission to Parliament by the author in collaboration with a range of other organisations, including HBF, interrogates this new proposed provision.

Our partner NSM has recently penned an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa calling for an intervention to urgently address the murderous funding issues with women's shelters.

Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster and media outlet, recently filmed a documentary on corona in South Africa and its impact on communities of Cape Town. DW Reporter Adrian Kriesch spoke to several community members including Caroline Peters of the Callas Foundation and the Cape Flat Women's Movement, one of our partners. Caroline runs a women's support group helping women who seek reprieve from domestic violence. Watch the full documentary here.

The countrywide lockdown is necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19 but, for many, isolating in the home presents a more immediate, and dangerous, threat than falling victim to the disease.  

While South Africans are preparing for lockdown, isolating at home presents additional risks for abused victims, says the National Shelter Movement.

Another year, another budget speech, bail-outs left right and center causing spending cuts in government programmes and services, proposals to slash the public wage bill and minimal increases in social grants.  Yet, again, the budget leaves us with more questions than answers. Who stands to lose the most, asks the Womxn's Budget Collective.

Violence against women on farms and in farming towns, usually by their partners, is under-reported. Lester Kiewit from Mail & Guardian talks to HBF partners, Ubuntu Rural Women and Youth Movement and Women on Farms, on their work towards changing this national problem.