Police officers are prioritising gender-based violence and femicide cases over the holiday season.

The National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, says that their structures are deployed to trace suspects wanted for the abuse of women across the country.

He says that police visibility will also be heightened at borders to monitor the influx of travelers over the same period.

The Police Commissioner’s promise comes as the National Shelter Association will petition the Department of Social Development to step in over the closure of several of these facilities in the Western Cape.

About 14 out of 20 women’s shelters in the province face closure.

Amongst these is the Saartjie Baartman Centre.

Head of Executive for the National Shelter Association Dr Zubeda Dangor contends that at the current rate of femicide thousands of women will be at risk without a safe space that a shelter offers.