For women living with abuse, leaving is often described as the first step towards safety.
But for many survivors, walking away can mean entering another period of uncertainty — with no secure place to sleep, no income to support their children and no guarantee that the systems meant to protect them will help.
Shelters and organisations supporting survivors say the response to gender-based violence cannot stop at helping women leave. Survivors also need housing, employment, childcare, legal assistance and emotional support to build lives away from violence.
The concern comes as communities in Ekurhuleni remain on edge following the discovery of multiple women’s bodies across the municipality.
Police have stressed that investigators have not established that all the cases are connected. But the killings have intensified concerns about the safety of women and whether existing systems are reaching them before violence becomes fatal.
For Nadia Munsamy, the KwaZulu-Natal representative of the National Shelter Movement of South Africa, the pressure on shelters is already evident in the number of women seeking refuge.
At Sahara Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, more than 40 admission requests were received over the past three months. Of these, 16 women and 14 children were admitted.
Many women who have been abused for years reach a point where remaining at home is no longer possible. Some have suffered serious assaults or threats to their lives; others have endured years of coercion and control. Increasingly, Munsamy said, women arrive with children and very little else.
Financial dependence is one reason women can remain in abusive relationships for years. Some have been prevented from working, while others have lost access to money and important documents. Many have already approached police, family members or the courts before reaching a shelter, but those interventions have not always kept them safe.
Shelters have limited beds, so they cannot accommodate every woman who needs protection. When a shelter is full, women may be referred to other services, including the department of social development helpline and the National Shelter Movement helpline, which seek alternative placements where possible.
But finding a bed is only one part of the problem. Munsamy said one of the most vulnerable points comes when a survivor leaves the shelter and has to establish an independent life.
Safe and affordable housing is one of the biggest barriers. Many women do not have money for a deposit or proof of income, while some have damaged credit records because of financial abuse.
Employment can also be difficult, particularly for women who were prevented from working by their partners or have been away from the workplace for years. For mothers, childcare adds another layer: without it, finding and keeping a job becomes harder.
This can leave women facing a choice between returning to an unsafe relationship and living in unstable conditions.
“When a woman returns to danger because there is nowhere else to go, that is a system failure, not a woman’s failure,” Munsamy said.
Sima Diar, programme manager at the Nisaa Institute for Women’s Development, said shelters encounter women at different points in the cycle of violence. Some arrive after years of abuse, while others seek help following a serious incident or sudden escalation.
Women may arrive dealing with physical and emotional trauma, financial dependence, homelessness, unemployment, legal problems and limited family or community support. Children may also need protection, schooling and psychological support.
Diar said shelter capacity remains a serious concern because facilities cannot simply add beds when they are full. More residents require additional social workers, counsellors, security, food and services for children.
South Africa therefore needs a wider continuum of safe accommodation, she said, from emergency shelters to longer-term transitional housing and eventually sustainable independent living.The period after leaving a shelter is particularly important. Women may also need help securing identity documents, accessing social grants where appropriate, gaining skills and obtaining legal assistance. Without these services, the expectation that a woman should become independent within a few months can become unrealistic.
Diar said women generally stay in shelters for between three and six months, although some cases require longer stays. Some eventually find their own accommodation or return to family and friends, while others move between relatives, friends and temporary accommodation. Without adequate longer-term support, however, women can end up returning to the person they were trying to escape.
“This is not necessarily a failure on the part of the woman,” Diar said. “It can be a failure of the support system when women are expected to become independent without adequate housing, income or childcare.”
The financial sustainability of shelters is another concern. Munsamy said government support is important but does not always cover the full cost of providing safe accommodation and survivor services.
Shelters rely on donors, corporate partners and fundraising to cover the remaining costs. Uncertainty around funding can affect basic operations such as food, security, utilities and staff salaries.
Diar said funding interruptions have also contributed to closures or temporary closures in parts of the shelter sector. Although the government has indicated that it wants to expand shelter services, particularly in areas identified as gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) hotspots, the challenge is turning commitments into reliable services that women can access when they need them.
The pressure also falls on the people working inside shelters. Both organisations highlighted the need to retain qualified social workers and other staff who do demanding work for relatively modest salaries. Workers are regularly exposed to traumatic stories and situations and need support to manage the emotional demands of the work.
For Munsamy, urgent changes are needed across the system. Shelters need predictable and adequate funding; protection orders and policing must work more effectively; prevention must begin earlier by involving boys, men, schools and communities; and women need practical pathways towards independence through housing, employment and childcare.
Diar similarly argued that shelters cannot be expected to solve GBVF on their own. The national strategic plan on GBVF provides a framework covering prevention, survivor support, safety, economic empowerment and accountability.
The challenge, she said, is ensuring these commitments are implemented consistently and that services are available where women need them.
The fear surrounding the killings in Ekurhuleni therefore raises a question that extends beyond individual investigations: what happens before a woman reaches a crisis point, and what happens after she leaves?
Shelters provide an essential place of safety, but they cannot become the destination for women trying to escape violence. “Shelters are the last line of defence, not the solution,” Munsamy said.