‘What is it that I was helped with?’ Abuse survivors share stories of neglect at shelters

Rebecca* spent 10 years with a husband who liked to control every bit of her life – where she worked, who she visited, and where she went. She was emotionally bullied and sometimes physically abused by her husband in those 10 years, until she decided enough was enough.

Rebecca’s story is like many other survivors of violence uncovered in an investigation by the commission for gender equality into the state of shelters in South Africa and the treatment of survivors. As a result, the commission called for a public investigative hearing which will hear from the heads of the department of social development in all provinces as well as the director generals of the DSD and the department of human settlements.“The thing I most needed was the shelter and the legal [assistance] just to make sure the kids get maintained and that continues regardless of what I have,” Rebecca said.

“The therapy you get there, it’s among ourselves as clients, by sharing each other’s experiences. That’s the only therapy – by ourselves,” she explained. “By the time three months passes, you haven’t done anything that has to do with you personally, that’s growing you personally,” she said.

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