If you are in danger, click the Exit Site button (top-right). This site may appear in your browsing history. For safety, use a private/incognito window.
In immediate danger? Call 10111 (SAPS)  |  Ambulance: 10177  |  GBV: 0800 428 428
Testing notice: This site is not currently live and is in a testing phase. If you need help call SAPS on 10111 or the GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428.
Exit Site

CWD Bonne Esperance Refugee Shelter

CWD Bonne Esperance Refugee Shelter is a Catholic Welfare and Development programme providing safe accommodation and psychosocial support to refugee and asylum-seeking women who have experienced gender-based violence, domestic abuse, or exploitation in Cape Town. For women who have fled their home countries and face GBV or destitution in South Africa, this shelter offers a faith-based refuge and practical support pathway.

Shelter & Safe House
0
Quality Score

Opening Hours

This organisation operates 24 hours.

About

About CWD Bonne Esperance Refugee Shelter

Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD) is the primary social welfare and development arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town. The Bonne Esperance Refugee Shelter is one of CWD's specialised programmes, providing residential accommodation and support to refugee and asylum-seeking women in Cape Town who are at risk.

Refugee and asylum-seeking women face compounded GBV risk in South Africa. Lacking documentation, language proficiency, and community networks, and often unable to access state services due to documentation barriers or xenophobia, these women are acutely vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and intimate partner violence. The Bonne Esperance Shelter fills a critical gap by providing a faith-based place of safety specifically accessible to this population.

CWD's shelter work with refugees also falls within the framework of the Cape Town Refugee Forum/Cape Town Refugee Centre, which was co-founded by Catholic Welfare and Development in 1994 as part of an interfaith response to the growing refugee population in the Western Cape.

Services

  • Residential accommodation for refugee and asylum-seeking women at risk
  • Psychosocial support and counselling
  • Referrals to documentation, legal, and health services
  • Connection to the broader Catholic Welfare and Development network and other refugee service providers in Cape Town

Contact

CWD main office: 021 461 3494 | info@cwdcpt.org.za