Sonke hosted a series of events during August, dubbed Women’s Month, in South Africa as a call for action against Gender-Based Violence. One of the events was a celebration of the milestones of the #TotalShutDown movement of 2018, which was a march against gender based violence in South Africa, while another was the capacitation of community-based organizations to strengthen advocacy on the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
Sonke, through its partnership with Irish Aid, played an important role in the #TotalShutDown protests and the establishment of the call-to-action civil society group that ultimately contributed to the drafting and passing of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSPGBVF) which was handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa in April 2020.
The Community Education and Mobilisation Unit hosted a National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Design Thinking Workshop, in August to engage community-based organizations on advocacy methods to push for NSP-GBVF to be localized and implemented at the municipal government level.
On the first day of the two day workshop, participants were taken through each Pillar of the NSP in detail, to help them understand the key role players of the government in implementing each pillar and the role of civil society. Participants expressed concern about the lack of knowledge of the plan by government officials, and the lack of initiative by the local government structure to implement it.
During the workshop, participants reflected on their key organizational strengths and advocacy capabilities and designed an advocacy campaign that aligned with pillars of the NSP. This exercise gave a moment for the community based organisations to reflect on advocacy issues in their communities and the crucial role they can play in implementing advocacy strategies that could address GBVF and further hold duty bearers accountable for implementing the Plan.
Community Action Team member Gina Mthiyane said the workshop was insightful ‘’This was so helpful in understanding the NSP on GBVF. I now know that the work that I do is aligned with Pillar 4 on Economic Power. As a community, we can do more to link women with stakeholders for economic development and skill.”
Read about the NSP here https://genderjustice.org.za/know-your-nsp/
#TotalShutDown movement milestone celebration
On the 20th of August, Sonke celebrated the courage of civil society organizations and shared the best practices for building feminist support systems for survivors and the importance of peacebuilding in the prevention of the scourge of gender-based violence. Reflecting on the monumental #TotalShutDown demonstration, which saw thousands of South African women march to the Union Building, the event noted that a key element that made this movement successful was the mobilization of women, girls, and non-conforming people across different sectors.
Speaking at the event, founder and Executive Director of the Lady of Peace Community Foundation Dieketseng Diale emphasised the importance of familiarising ourselves with instruments like the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to make strides towards peacebuilding in homes and communities. “Peacebuilding is a journey, it starts in the household, then to the community, and ultimately to the world at large’’ she said.
Women in attendance shared their lived experiences of GBV and how it has directly or indirectly affected their lives.
“It takes courage and support from family and friends for one to eventually leave an abusive relationship. Leaving does not heal you, but it starts the journey. Speaking about the abuse with other women who have gone through similar experiences helps to overcome the pain and shame of being abused. Let us normalize speaking out and supporting one another as women.” said one of the survivors in anonymity.
“All women are affected by Gender Based Violence one way or another and it is important to recognize that as women we need each other,” said Jane Chikwado, National Convenor of Black Womxn’s Caucus.
Best practices on building feminist safe healing spaces for women and girls and tips on how survivors of violence can rebuild their lives were shared in the meeting.
