By Gomolemo Lesejane, Associate Writer, Stractiv8 Agency, for NACOSA
In South Africa, the country that sadly bears the moniker of the rape and femicide capital of the world, the work of creating safe spaces for victims and survivors of gender-based violence cannot be separated from our lagging struggle for freedom. That is to say, sheltering, legal services and psychosocial support are part of a broader freedom project: one that insists that women, children, LGBTQIA+ people, migrants, people with disabilities and all those made vulnerable by intersecting forms of oppression have a right to live without fear.
As people who live in a multi-layered society, we can agree that gender-based violence (GBV) is not an isolated social problem; but rather, one that is borne of interconnected experiences of the violence of colonialism, the dispossession that apartheid brought, and the brutality of a white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy that coldly polices Black women’s bodies, our choices and ultimately – our survival.
The Networking HIV and AIDS Community of Southern Africa (NACOSA) recently hosted a webinar speaking to some of these issues, grappling with them together with partners from A Re Ageng Social Services, as well as the National Shelter Movement of South Africa. Following the funding cuts across civil society organisations in South Africa in early 2025, it has become clear that safe spaces are necessary interventions that stand in the gap where families, communities, institutions and the state have too often failed those affected by GBV. Over and above the safety of having a protected bed and nourishing meals, shelters and services addressing GBV offer reprieve and refuge. To speak about GBV, therefore, is to understand matters beyond statistics; but rather to centre victims and survivors, recognising that they too are worthy of dignity and care, without taking away their autonomy.
The National Strategic Plan (NSP) on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide 2020–2030 aligns the law and its policies with practices. It is premised on accountability, prevention, justice, response, economic power, and research, confirming that GBV cannot be solved by one sector alone. Vuyokazi Yokwe of NACOSA asserts that “Policy must be fit for purpose, and justice reform must be one of the pillars of this work. Investigative processes and evidence collection must be strengthened, because this oversight is important in a survivor-centred response.”
While the Constitution acts as the supreme law of the land, international and regional frameworks like the Maputo Protocol ensure a strong legislative foundation for human rights and survivor-centred responses to GBV. For organisations working to foster safe spaces , this means strengthening referral pathways and building trusted relationships across sectors.
Civil society and gender activists have long carried this work, often before policy caught up with lived reality. This has also meant respecting the choices that victims and survivors make in their quest for justice. Feminist movements, shelter networks, community-based organisations, legal advocates, social workers, and other psychosocial service providers have helped push GBV and femicide into the national agenda, from community mobilisation, to the 2018 Presidential Summit and eventually the development of the NSP. Just this week, the Presidency has also announced the appointment of members of the National Council for GBV. These strides matter because they show that collective agitation has and can continue to yield much.
Be that as it may, we must be honest about the harsh conditions under which safe spaces continue to operate. In addition to the loss of funding articulated earlier, other factors at play jeopardise the quality and efficacy of these spaces, such as misalignment between state departments which results in fragmented services. Survivors may gather the resources and courage to leave violent homes, only to face secondary vulnerabilities, such as insecure housing, hostile police processes, inaccessible courts, or limited mental health care. A survivor-centred response must therefore go beyond emergency protection. For us to truly experience what rehabilitative and restorative processes look like, we must begin to see adequate physical and mental healthcare, legal assistance, child protection, documentation support, skills development, income opportunities, and long-term reintegration that does not return survivors to the very roots of their oppression.
Collaboration remains essential, but it must be collaboration with accountability. Sharon Kouta, representing the National Shelter Movement of South Africa, spoke to the importance of partnerships and networking across sectors in building the capacity of this movement, highlighting the development of a groundbreaking national 24-hour toll-free shelter helpline, which is available on 0800 001 005.
Government, donors, civil society, communities and the private sector all have roles to play, yet partnerships must not romanticise the labour of those closest to the crisis. Many safe space workers are themselves Black women carrying the emotional, administrative and political burden of survival work. A Black feminist approach asks us to resource this labour properly, trust community knowledge, protect frontline workers, and ensure that policy implementation is shaped by those who understand survivors’ realities most intimately. This includes the dedicated staff and boards of the National Shelter Movement of South Africa, NACOSA, A Re Ageng Social Services, partners, donors, government representatives and participants who continue to strengthen protection, care and justice for survivors.
Safety cannot remain a privilege. Justice reserved only for some is justice delayed, and in many instances, denied. Healing and rebuilding cannot be seen as the work of victims and survivors of GBV alone. Our collective task is to build communities that embody the ethos of the NSP and the long history of resistance against GBV in South Africa. We gallantly continue this work because dignity, freedom and equality must be lived in our lifetime.
