Welcome to Sonke’s first edition of the 2024 quarterly newsletter. We are thrilled to share with you our latest organisational developments. In this edition, you will read about Sonke’s active participation at the Commission on Status of Women 68 forum, the impact of our women leadership Inkanyezi project in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga Provinces, as well as Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence.
Sonke News & Views
Conferences & Symposiums
Sonke participates at the #CSW68
Sonke Gender Justice and its partners MenEngage Africa, Power to Youth, Equimundo and Generation Gender hosted and participated in several side-events at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), which took place from the 11th to the 22nd of March 2024, at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The events focused on the prevention and eradication of violence against women and girls, promoting women’s economic empowerment, access to sexual reproductive and health Rights services, as well as parental leave and care policies among other topics.
International Days
International Women’s Day 2024
The 8th of March marked International Women Day, a day aimed at celebrating women’s achievements and recognising the need to accelerate global gender equality and equal opportunities for all. Sonke commemorated the day in a number of projects, one of which was a digital campaign profiling women leaders through the Global Affairs Canada Inkanyezi program. In Johannesburg , the Community Education and Mobilisation unit partnered with AUDA-Nepad underscoring their commitment to drive gender equality at the local community level. While in South Sudan, through the Sustainable Independent Media Activity, Sonke brought together media practitioners and human rights activists to discuss how the media can be used to amplify women’s civic participation in South Sudan.
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
USAID Khutlo Activity Moot Court and Debate
USAID Khutlo activity project in Lesotho together with partners hosted a moot court and debate session, in commemoration of International Women’s Day in Maseru. University of Lesotho students gathered to interrogate and evaluate the legal and policy scope in Lesotho on issues of gender equality, sexual orientation, gender diversity and sexual and reproductive health.
Gender Equality
Inkanyezi project implementation in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga Provinces
Sonke in partnership with Global Affairs Canada is currently implementing the Inkanyezi project in the Amathole East District of the Eastern Cape, as well as the Ehlanzeni District of Mpumalanga Provinces. The program seeks to strengthen the ability of women leaders in the political, traditional, and religious structures to influence local decision-making processes.
Gender Based Violence
Sonke and LUX SA partner to fight everyday sexism
Everyday sexism is the daily experience of inappropriate comments, behaviours or treatment that have unfortunately been normalized in society. Sexism relies on gender stereotypes and power dynamics and can affect people of any gender but is most typically condescending of women. This can be blatant harassment or degradation of women, or benevolent, a seemingly appreciative dynamic in which men are characterized as chivalrous while women are cast as weak. Sonke Gender Justice together with LUX SA partnered to address this phenomenon, fostering the understanding of this concept among multi-sectoral stakeholders involved in GBVF prevention and response in Diepkloof and Diepsloot townships in Johannesburg. The initiative built allyship and lobbied men and boys to prevent Everyday Sexism in their communities, by deliberating on its root causes, problems faced by victims of sexual harassment and suggested community-centric approaches to ending this form of discrimination.
Gender Based Violence
HIV, Human Rights and GBV workshop
South African civil society organisations, media, government and traditional leaders gathered for a 5-day HIV, Human Rights and GBVF workshop hosted by Sonke’s Community Education and Mobilisation unit in Cape Town in March. The meeting was to capacitate its participants to hold the government accountable for the implementation of legislative framework and policies to prevent gender based violence.
Gender Based Violence
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence
Nowadays technology and online spaces are increasingly misused and weaponized against women and girls, as studies show that females are at a higher risk of being targeted online than men. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence can manifest as sextortion, online impersonation and cyberbullying among others. To this end, Sonke in partnership with IREX and Makaia, through the Transform Digital Spaces to Reflect Feminist Democratic Principles, Transform project, is implementing a pilot initiative in Georgia, Guatemala, and Kenya, to support practical approaches to prevent, mitigate, and respond to Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence.
Sonke In the Media
Donor’s Corner
Irish Aid
Sonke would like to thank all the donors without whom its work would not be possible. In this edition’s Donor Corner, we focus on Irish Aid. Irish Aid is the Government of Ireland’s official international development aid programme and managed by the Development Co-Operation and Africa Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Irish Aid and Sonke collaborated on the Rights, Accountability and Action project in South Africa from 2018 to 2022, with an emphasis on enhancing local actors’ ability to direct, impact, and oversee the execution of GBV-responsive initiatives in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and the Western Cape.
Upcoming Events
Cape Town High Court picket against GBV
Sonke is scheduled to picket outside the Cape Town high Court on the 10th of May 2024, in the fight against gender base violence and to urge the country’s courts systems to prioritize GBV cases. This demonstration is prompted by a GBV case Sonke has been following since 2016 of a man who raped, killed and dumped the body of a women in Phillippi in Cape Town. This picket will mobilise participants from Nyanga, Gugulethu, Phillip, Kraaifontein and Khayelitsha areas to gather at Cape Town High Court.
Recommended Resources
National Strategic Plan on GBVF
Everyday Sexism campaign
The Power to Youth Expedition
To report an incident of sexual harassment, bullying, abuse or any other form of harassment experienced, seen or heard about, or an incident of fraud, corruption or bribery: CALL the toll-free whistle-blower hotline: 0800 333 059, or SMS: 33490, or email: sonke@whistleblowing.co.za
Sonke does not tolerate sexual harassment, bullying, abuse or any other forms of harassment.
