Power to Youth partners shared good practices, challenges, and lessons learnt during the Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) Linking and Learning Symposium in Kenya from April the 12th to the 19th. Given that the GTA task force set out to capture stories of change in 2024, the symposium was aimed at facilitating and supporting countries to reflect on their implementation of GTA as a key thematic within the Power to Youth program, as well as highlight the good practices, and impactful stories in their journeys.
To strengthen collaboration and build synergy, the symposium featured workshops on the following: developing key advocacy messages from a gender transformative approach lens, using storytelling as an approach for changing of mindsets, managing backlash, and working together to engage skeptics and transform challenges into opportunities, using GTA to promote sexual reproductive health and rights, and sharing updates of some stories of change by participating countries, among others.
Figure 2 Group Work during GTA Symposium
As one of the intersectional approaches used within the Power to Youth Program in transforming communities and raising change agents, GTA constitutes six principles: human rights as a basis for all interventions, examining power dynamics, addressing harmful gender norms and cultural practices focusing on empowerment of women and girls, and meaningfully working with men and boys for gender justice.
By the end of the symposium, Power to Youth Partners identified GTA good practices for replication and gained more clarity on incorporating gender transformative approach in their programming.
Youth advocates in the Power to Youth (PtY) Program Malawi now have skills to meaningfully participate in the development of their communities and serve as agents of change in deconstructing toxic socio-cultural norms experienced by women and girls. This is due to the Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation (MIYP) training facilitated by Sonke Gender Justice in Partnership with Choice for Youth and Sexuality and Youth Wave Malawi from 8th -11 April 2024.
According to a youth advocate, Chimwemwe Kayange, ‘‘Meaningful and inclusive youth participation is the integration of youth voices in all the decision-making processes. This means integrating all the youth voices in planning, implementation, monitoring of all the processes in decision-making.’’
Figure 2: Chimwemwe Kayange
The MIYP training sought to
Provide adequate knowledge and awareness on meaningful and inclusive youth participation.
Strengthen skills on implementing MIYP during community interventions.
Increase knowledge on youth related policies and processes.
Increase understanding of Youth-Adult Partnerships (YAPs)
Foster collaboration and Learning: Facilitate an environment for participants to share experiences, exchange knowledge, and learn from each other’s good practices.
Through PowerPoint presentations, group and individual practical sessions the workshop delved on the concept of meaningful and inclusive youth participation, the flower of participation, leadership, and negotiation skills, policy and legal frameworks for youth engagement; development of MIYP action plans among others.
Figure 3: Group Photo during the Power to Youth Malawi MIYP Training
As a way forward from the MIYP training, youth advocates committed to implementing the developed action plans, leveraging on media and communications to showcase their work, and working closely with the youth council in Malawi to promote substantive youth participation.
Watch this video and learn more about what MIYP means to young people in Malawi.
World Contraception Day is an important opportunity for contemplation and action in the fight for gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). “The Power of Options,” this year’s theme, emphasizes the significance of choice in family planning and reproductive health decisions. It’s a subject that connects profoundly with our work at Sonke Gender Justice and precisely matches with our Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Strategic Plan for 2023-2027, as outlined in our document link. Today, I want to shed light on how the power of options extends beyond the realm of contraceptive choices to encompass the broader landscape of SRHR and how men and boys can be the catalysts for positive change.
At Sonke Gender Justice, we understand that true empowerment means giving everyone, regardless of gender, the freedom to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. This principle lies at the heart of the “Power of Options” theme. Yet, in many societies, women and girls have historically bore the burden of reproductive decisions and family planning. It is about time we engage men and boys as active partners in this conversation, and in doing so, we will unlock the full potential of SRHR. Access to a wide range of contraceptive options is essential to ensuring that people can make informed decisions about their reproductive lives, thereby reducing unintended pregnancies and maternal mortality rates. This theme mirrors our core values at Sonke Gender Justice, where we believe in promoting gender equality and empowering individuals to make choices that are best suited to their unique circumstances.
Our SRHR Strategic Plan for 2023–2027 is a roadmap that charts a course toward a more equitable, just, and inclusive society. It emphasizes the critical role of engaging men and boys as allies in the fight for SRHR. This holistic approach seeks to engage men and boys not as passive recipients of information and services but as active advocates, service users, and change agents within their communities. One of the key pillars of our strategic plan is the promotion of gender-transformative approaches. This means challenging traditional gender norms and stereotypes that have often limited the role of men and boys in SRHR discussions. We are working to create a society where men and boys are encouraged to embrace their role as caregivers, decision-makers, and supporters of their partners’ SRHR choices.
Here’s how the theme “The Power of Options” aligns with our work and strategic plan:
Educating and Informing
One of the cornerstones of empowering individuals in their SRHR choices is access to accurate information. Our strategic plan outlines initiatives to provide comprehensive sexuality education for men and boys. By equipping them with knowledge, we enable them to make informed choices, thereby reducing unintended pregnancies, the spread of sexually transmitted infections, and unsafe abortions.
Promoting Gender-Equal Partnerships
In striving for equality, it is vital to foster partnerships where both partners have an equal say in family planning decisions. “The Power of Options” encourages open dialogue between couples. Our strategic plan encourages community dialogues and campaigns to challenge harmful gender norms and promote respectful, equitable relationships.
Access to Services
Access to contraceptive methods and healthcare services is a fundamental right. Our plan advocates for improved access to quality SRHR services for all, regardless of gender. Men and boys should be active participants in advocating for and accessing these services, acknowledging that reproductive health concerns everyone.
Supportive Communities
The “Power of Options” also highlights the role of communities in creating an environment where individuals can exercise their SRHR choices without stigma or discrimination. Our strategic plan emphasises community engagement to reduce harmful practices and discrimination, fostering an inclusive space for all.
Policy Advocacy
To create lasting change, we must influence policies that affect SRHR. Our strategic plan includes advocacy efforts to ensure that policies and laws support gender equality and the empowerment of men and boys in SRHR.
“The Power of Options” is not merely a theme for World Contraception Day; it is a call to action. It challenges us to recognise that SRHR is a shared responsibility, and that men and boys play a pivotal role in realising the full potential of choice and empowerment.
Our SRHR Strategic Plan for 2023–2027 is a testament to our commitment to this cause. It provides a clear path forward, outlining how we will work tirelessly to engage men and boys as partners, allies, and advocates in the journey towards a world where everyone has the power to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Let us seize this moment to celebrate choice, promote equality, and empower all individuals, regardless of gender, to make the best decisions for their SRHR. Together, we can harness “The Power of Options” to create a more just and equitable world.
At Sonke Gender Justice, we remain committed to our SRHR Strategic Plan for 2023-2027, which places men and boys at the centre of our efforts to promote choice and equality. Together, we can harness the power of options to create a world where everyone has the autonomy and support to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health, leading to healthier and more equitable societies across Africa and beyond.
Gender-based violence, and in particular violence aimed at women, cost South Africa between R28.4 billion and R42.4bn for the period 2012/2013. This, according to a KPMG report, “Too costly to ignore – the economic impact of gender-based violence in South Africa”, represented 0.9 percent and 1.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), respectively.
The aim of the study was to identify, estimate and aggregate costs associated with gender-based violence (GBV) as incurred by victims, the government, civil society and businesses in South Africa. The costs included health, justice, and other service costs such as loss of earnings, revenues, taxes, and second-generation costs, the cost of children witnessing and living with violence.
Today marks the beginning of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, a global initiative that seeks to raise awareness and educate on violence against women and children.
Several organisations will take part in initiatives and events nationwide to bring awareness on violence against women and children.
VITAL LINK: Heinrich Boell Foundation programme manager, Paula Assubuji, says that persisting high rates of violence against women in this country motivated the organisation to partner with the Engender series creators.
Here at home, a television talk show series, Engender, that aims to educate South Africans about feminism and promote gender equality, premiered last night on Cape Town TV (Channel 263 on DStv).
Produced by Accidental Films and TV, the series creates an opportunity for South Africans to join the conversation about feminism and gender equality, thereby creating an environment for positive change, says director Tina-Louise Smith.
“Having worked at Cape Town Community TV where (staff) members and the community are encouraged to make the TV they want to see, I realised that I wanted to see a feminist TV programme that grappled with concepts and made them accessible,” explains Smith.
The series targets people who don’t understand what it means to be a feminist or what feminism is, explains Smith.
“Filming the series was both hard and encouraging. It was hard because we didn’t raise all the funding we needed and, of course, the amount of money you have influences your schedule and so many other things. But I was encouraged by many things… the simple fact that there was someone willing to fund the programme,” says Smith.
Engender is a joint venture between Accidental Films and TV and the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Africa, founded by writer and Nobel Prize laureate Heinrich Boll. Based in Germany, the organisation is part of the green political movement that has developed worldwide as a response to the traditional politics of socialism, liberalism, and conservatism. Their interests are ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self-determination and justice.
“Feminism has been misunderstood and has had such a bad reputation that I was thrilled that Heinrich Boll supported our initiative and as importantly, shared our goals and ideas,” says Smith.
“When we began our search for the presenters… you got the sense that this programme had arrived at the right time.
When we recorded the vox pops asking people to explain what feminism meant, the fact that many people weren’t sure what it was, was another encouraging factor. This meant that people would learn and understand more about feminism from watching Engender”
Paula Assubuji, programme manager for the foundation, says that since the advent of democracy, significant advances have been made towards women’s empowerment. Quota systems to ensure women’s representation and leadership in political structures and legislation on crimes against women has led to the development of specialised courts and psycho-social support services.
“However, despite these advances, violence against women remains a persistent feature of our communities. Patriarchal, misogynistic ideology, values and attitudes are embedded in South African society and continuously, whether done so overtly or subconsciously, impose notions of women’s inferiority to men.
“Public and media discourse reinforces stereotypes and normalises negative perceptions of women and their role and place in society, whereby violence against women is condoned,” says Assubuji.
“This project enhances a deeper understanding of the drivers of GBV and contributes to the dismantling of gender-based discrimination.
“It encourages the creation of new or alternative strategies towards the prevention of GBV and towards greater gender responsive governance. The project looks to revitalise feminism and to nurture a collective feminist voice on GBV by encouraging relationship building and partnerships across various sectors…”
“Systemic gender discrimination has an effect in women’s lives and continues to further entrench women’s discrimination and jeopardise any progress towards women’s emancipation,” she adds.
Smith’s main wish is that the series will encourage people to think differently about feminism and the way we relate.
The rest of episode one of Engender will air on Friday and on Sunday. Episode two and three airs from December 1 to 13. For the series’s full schedule, visit their Facebook page, Engender.
Where to get help
Sonke Gender Justice
Cape Town: 021423 7088
Gugulethu Satellite Office: 021633 3140
Joburg: 011339 3589
E-mail us at info@gendeijustice.org.za
Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children
Telephone: 021633 5287
National toll-free helpline for survivors, witnesses and perpetrators of gender-based violence.
Stop Gender Violence helpline: 0800 150 150
People Opposed to Woman Abuse (Powa)
Gauteng-based organisation offering shelter, counselling and legal support to women in abusive relationships, rape survivors, survivors of incest.
Helpline: 083 7651235 www.powa.co.za
SA Police Child Protection Units
Emergency number: 10111
Crime Stop: 0860010111
Last month, the global community came together to celebrate the United Nations’ (UN) World Refugee Day and honour those forced to leave their homelands under threat of violence, oppression, and persecution. In Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 200 people from across the globe, including members of Sonke’s Refugee Health and Rights (RHR) team, attended a World Refugee Day event in Philippi hosted by Sophumelela High School.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a majority of refugees in South Africa have fled from the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, political instability and civil war in Somalia, or individual persecution in countries including Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. Although South Africa’s legislation recognises the basic principles of refugee protection, the country’s current socio-economic environment, coupled with the perpetration of xenophobic sentiment and violence against some foreign nationals, has strained the relationship between refugees and South African citizens.
Despite the numerous difficulties facing refugees, however, many have made exceptional contributions to South African society. The World Refugee Day event in Philippi highlighted these contributions in a celebratory light, incorporating music, song, and dance into the day’s programme.
Following up on this year’s strong efforts to promote unity in the face of xenophobia, the event featured refugee artists from across the African continent, including a Zimbabwean marimba group and a Congolese band. The two troops merged about halfway through the day’s schedule and jubilantly carried out tune after tune of blended rhythms, transforming the programme into a lively celebration of global cultures. Attendees, consisting of both South Africans and foreign nationals, danced down the aisles and with each other; the crowd clapped and cheered as the energy in the auditorium grew. Although the struggles of refugees were never forgotten, neither was their joy – a reminder that even when times are dark, there is still a way to find light.
Sonke Gender Justice‘s International Programmes & Network Manager, and Co-Chair to the Eastern and Southern Africa regional advisory group of UN Women, with African Queens, princesses and women Chiefs at a meeting on gender equality in Nairobi. Countries represented included: Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, and South Sudan. UNAIDS was also represented by Dr. Sheila Tlou (Director of UNAIDS – Eastern and Southern Africa) and others.
The South African Council of Churches Youth Forum (SACCYF) and Sonke Gender Justice want to engage in a national conversation about sexual pleasure and your faith.
On the 18th & 19th November 2014, Sonke & SACCYF will be holding a two-day leadership camp that focuses on sexual pleasure and faith.
A select group of individuals will be identified through a competitive process, taken on a two day journey exploring their own sexual pleasure, given support to share what they have learnt in their communities of faith, and use this learning as a basis for further engagement on not only the sexual politics and pleasure of individual young leaders in faith communities, but that of their congregations as well.
Trainings will be taking place in Gauteng. Enter now and be a part of this enlightening experience!
To enter, answer this question:
What is the link between sexual pleasure and YOUR faith?
You can:
– Write it (poem, essay, short story);
– Perform it (sing, dance, act);
– Paint or draw it!
Send your entries to us using any of these channels:
If the human cost won’t, will the financial cost make government commit to a comprehensive national plan to combat gender-based violence?
Every year in South Africa, an estimated more than one million rapes occur; every year in South Africa, more than a thousand women are killed by an intimate partner; and every year in South Africa, gender-based violence costs our straining economy around R40 billion (yes, that’s with a “b”). Every single year.
These numbers should be more than enough to convince The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa that South Africa needs a comprehensive, fully-funded, multisectoral national strategic plan to combat gender-based violence (GBV), but unfortunately, our government does not seem convinced. The evidence keeps mounting, but decisive action is lacking. The “plan” to develop a national plan to combat GBV keeps getting delayed, diluted, sidelined and short-changed.
Meanwhile, people like David Olyn (a gay man who was raped and murdered in Ceres this year) lose their life, people like Queen (a 9-year old girl from Delft who was raped and set on fire this year) lose their life, people like Sandiswa Mhlawuli (a 27-year old mother-of-two who was killed by an intimate partner in Dutywa in the Eastern Cape this year) lose their life.
There are hundreds of thousands of horrific stories of violence against women and children, stories of rape, stories of gender-based violence every single year, and yet President Zuma’s State of the Nation address this year didn’t mention gender-based violence once. One study reports one in four South African men as admitting to having perpetrated a rape, yet the National Council on Gender-Based Violence which should have come up with a national plan in the nearly two years since it was formed, never did. Time and time again, South Africa is listed in global surveys as having the highest rate of rape in the world, but our government still hasn’t developed and implemented a comprehensive national plan with timeframes and measures for accountability. A 2009 report by trade union Solidarity said a child is raped every three minutes in South Africa and still Sonke and other organisations are forced to mount this nationwide advocacy campaign in order to try to push our government to real action.
While South Africa has passed some good laws (e.g. the Sexual Offences Act) and put in place some measures that could combat GBV (such as recently reintroducing sexual offences courts), these responses are generally not well implemented, nor properly funded, so that they never are implemented to scale and don’t create the seachange that is needed. Despite the fact that sexual offences courts increased conviction rates and led to a decrease in turnaround time from the date of report to the police to the finalisation of the case, most of them were closed down in the last decade due largely to the lack of a dedicated budget. We can’t afford one step forward, two steps backwards when so many people are being assaulted, raped and murdered. We can’t allow widespread corruption in our country when there are so many urgent places where investment is critical.
An investment in a national plan that strengthens GBV prevention efforts, GBV response mechanisms, policing, courts, psycho-social services, community-based work, the positive involvement of community, traditional and faith leaders, GBV prevention in schools, grassroots efforts to promote gender equality and combat GBV, and that effectively stops cycles of violence, will not only save our bleeding economy money, but more importantly, will stop the human bleeding, and save lives.
Getting our government to develop a national strategic plan to combat GBV shouldn’t be a hard-sell, but for some reason it is, despite the fact that 20-30% of women in South Africa experience violence within any given year, and up to half within their lifetime. 97% of South Africans polled by Gallup in 2009 said that rape was a major problem. Which number will make the government finally prioritise combating domestic and sexual violence?
The KPMG report has come out just as South Africa is starting to implement its National Development Plan with a national economic growth target of 5.5 % GDP per year , but the report explains that GBV is one of the most expensive health problems globally and its impact costs South Africa between 0.9 percent and 1.3 percent of its GDP every year. Can South Africa meet its growth targets if it doesn’t address the issues that are draining the economy?
Will the government respond to the economy if not to society? Inaction costs more than action.
Help us push government to urgent action: Tell President Zuma, Minister Shabangu, all of South Africa’s Ministers and the Parliament of South Africa to commit to urgently develop and implement a comprehensive national plan to combat gender-based violence now, not later.
Share this post, tell your friends, tweet @PresidencyZA, and spread the word!
Let’s use the hashtag #GBVplanSA and make our government pay attention to the numbers, and more importantly to the lives behind the numbers!
The conversation about improved parenting leave and paternity leave is gaining momentum internationally and in South Africa. Recently, US President Barack Obama announced extended paternity leave for fathers employed by the US State Department. Richard Branson recently announced a full year’s paid parenting leave for new parents (including fathers) employed by Virgin Management. In South Africa, companies like Pick n Pay provide better paternity and maternity leave to mothers and fathers than that offered by government, and the workers’ union, COSATU, has recently endorsed this model.
South Africa’s Basic Conditions of Employment Act only provides up to four months of maternity leave for mothers, and no parenting leave for fathers. Fathers do qualify for three days of family responsibility leave, but this includes all family contingencies including funerals or attending to sick family members. The harmful message that the policy environment is sending to South Africans is clear: ‘Raising children is women’s work.’
A time use survey by Stats SA in 2010 found that women do about eight times as much care and house work as men. In addition, about half of all children in South Africa grow up without their fathers present. That means that women have a double burden of earning an income and caring for children. If men do more of the care work at home, women would also be more available to spend time on their careers and take up economic opportunities.
Improving parenting leave, including better paternity leave, is one step that the Department of Social Development and the Department of Labour can take to improve gender equality in households, and in the workplace. Both departments were mandated to explore this in the White Paper on Families from 2013, yet nothing has happened since.
As part of the MenCare+ programme, Sonke Gender Justice and Mosaic Training, Service & Healing Centre for Women (Mosaic) have worked on a position paper that proposes a new model for parenting leave in South Africa. The model is called the 1000-100-10 model and is based on the idea that the first 1000 days of a child’s life are the most important in terms of healthy development, and during this time increased and good quality of care will have the most positive impact on the child’s life.
We propose that in the first 1000 days of a child’s life, each parent receives 100 days of fully paid, non-transferable parenting leave that can be taken at any time to spend on caring for his or her young child(ren). This should be in addition to the existing maternity leave benefits afforded by the state and employers. In addition to that, we propose 10 days of fully paid paternity leave for new fathers at the birth of each child.
It is children and mothers that stand to benefit most from improved parenting and paternity leave as men will be more engaged in the healthy development of the children while also contributing to the unpaid care work and house work at home.
Therefore, as a Father’s Day event, on Tuesday 23 June 2015, Sonke and Mosaic are conducting a roundtable discussion with women’s and children’s rights organisations about the parenting leave paper, to be sure that their active participation contributes to shaping the model’s design.
This year, the Day of the African Child focuses on child marriage, which affects 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa. Child marriage perpetuates the cycle of poverty by causing girls to drop out of school and have children before they are fully developed. Kumbukani Mwanyongo is an activist and a member of the Malawi Girl Guides Association, where she works to educate girls about their rights.
Here she answers questions on confronting child marriage in Malawi: http://ow.ly/Omlvx
Mlungisi grew up without a father. As a young man, he drank and caused pain to his family. He first noticed that he was not healthy when he began losing weight. With his sister’s support, he tested for HIV and found out he was positive. As a way of dealing with the fear and loneliness that followed, Mlungisi asked for help and found emotional strength in a support group for people living with HIV. His wife passed away, and he now cares for his children on his own.
Key points to consider in viewing Mlungisi’s story:
People living with HIV often experience both support and stigma. This is the case for Mlungisi, whose sisters support him but who also faces rejection after he learns he is positive. As you watch his story, consider how people can create support systems. Think also about the importance of men adopting new models for fatherhood, based not only on financial support but also on daily care and attention.
About 25 faith leaders, activists and members of the MenEngage Africa network are currently participating in a five-day skills building and co-learning workshop under the theme “Religion, Gender and Sexuality”. The workshop, which started on Monday and will end on Friday, is organised by #SonkeGenderJustice (Sonke), #MenEngageAfrica, the #InstituteofDevelopmentStudies (IDS) and the #WitsCentreforDiversityStudies (WICDS). Participants have come from all over Africa, including from Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Sonke joined the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), Sisonke Sex Worker Movement and the AIDS Legal Network at Western Cape High Court this morning to call for swift justice in the trial of Zwelethu Mthethwa for the alleged murder of sex worker Nokupila Kumalo in Woodstock in 2013.
The case has been postponed 6 times in the past two years.
Following the Xenophobic attacks which hit parts of the provinces of Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng last month, Sonke’s Refugee Health & Rights (RHR) team hosted a workshop on ‘Violence, Gender, Power and Health’ on May 20th – 22nd. The workshop focused on developing positive messages for a mural to be painted at Central Johannesburg College in Troyeville, Johannesburg, which would promote unity and integration in South Africa.
Community members from the surrounding areas (Bertrams and Yeoville) came together to discuss their issues and to discuss what the overall mural message should be. It was decided that the mural should address issues of gender-based violence (GBV), ending Xenophobia and celebrating our diversity. The participants at the workshop were given the opportunity to discuss these, and other issues, and to share their thoughts on the change they want to see happen in South Africa.
Last week Sonke’s RHR team was out in full force painting the wall alongside community members. With this mural, we hope to promote attitudes that demand justice and an end to violence of any kind.
Sonke invites you to the unveiling of the wall on Tuesday June 9th. Please watch this space for more information on this event, closer to the time.
Well done to all the runners running the #comrades2015 today, including Sonke’s Director of Advocacy and Accountability, Vuyiseka Dubula. The first male winner is Gift #Kelehe who finished the longer than usual 87.72km up-run in 5:38:36, his first-ever #ComradesMarathon win! Huge congrats to Gift for the #2015Comrades win!
After Sonwabo’s wife passed away, he became a single parent. He soon noticed his own health declining, but he struggled with the thought of seeking medical care at the nearby clinic. When he decided to get help, he discovered he was HIV+. Now in a healthy relationship and active in his community, Sonwabo challenges the stereotype that men are not involved in efforts to promote testing and care.
Key points to consider in viewing Sonwabo’s story:
Many people believe that if they are HIV+, finding and maintaining healthy, loving relationships is impossible. Some may prefer not to know their status rather than face unfriendly clinic environments. Consider these fears and barriers as you watch the story, and think about the importance of peer support, for men. How has Sonwabo found meaning in his life?
James lives with his wife and children in Khayelitsha, South Africa. He struggles to understand the lifelong bullying behaviours of his father, who abused him and his mother for years. James realises that times have changed drastically in the wake of apartheid, and regrets that his father, who lives alone on the outskirts of a remote village, hasn’t been able or inspired to change with them.
Key points to consider in viewing James’ story:
Masculinity is undergoing a profound transformation in South Africa. James’ story about his abusive father reveals the necessity for new approaches to what it means “to be a man” and shows the tragic consequences of those who are unable to adapt to changing times. As you watch the story, which highlights the subtleties of men’s control tactics, we encourage you to reflect on how difficult change can be.
This Africa Day, Sonke has released a Public Service Announcement calling for African unity and an end to xenophobia. View the video version of our PSA here:
With this PSA, Sonke Gender Justice calls on all South Africans to embrace African unity and to rise up against xenophobia. Choose humanity, unity and freedom.
This Africa Day, Sonke Gender Justice shares this Public Service Announcement, which urges all South Africans to rise up and take a stand against xenophobia. South Africa is a multi-cultural and diverse country, and the people that live here who come from different countries add to the richness of our social fabric and contribute to the growth of our country.
This Africa Day, let us stand side by side, love one another and not allow hate to divide us, for we are all human and we are all Africans. Let us also not forget that many of our fellow Africans come from countries that helped us during our time of need before we attained freedom.
This is the second version of the Public Service Announcement (PSA) calling for an end to xenophobia in South Africa. This version is mixed with the South African national anthem.
This year, Africa Day in South Africa follows horrific incidences of Xenophobic violence aimed at people from the African diaspora who reside in South Africa. Sonke has joined with other civil society organisations, trade unions and the religious community to condemn these attacks, and to call for African unity.
Calls by civil society organisations mirror the views of many people who live in South Africa.
We share with you a voxpops feature of how people living in South Africa think about African unity and xenophobia.
For Africa Day 2015, Sonke Gender Justice asked people living in South Africa about their thoughts on African unity and xenophobia. The result was the production of this voxpops feature.
This week, Sonke Gender Justice‘s Refugee Health and Rights Coordinator, Micheline Muzaneza participated in a United Nations regional consultation with human right defenders in Kampala, Uganda. The consultation was convened by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to bring together approximately 45 human rights defenders from local and regional NGOs, associations and communities in Africa to share experiences and insights on important topics related to human rights defenders.
Micheline is on the steering committee of Survivors United for Action, the first-ever global movement of sexual violence survivors focused on ending rape & gender violence in conflict, and was part of a three-day dialogue last month with Nobel Women’s Initiative on “Building Global Support for Women Human Right Defenders.”
This week’s consultation in Uganda seeks to encourage experience-sharing, while identifying challenges and promoting good practices relating to the integrated components of the mandate of the special rapporteur, including “to integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of his/her mandate, paying particular attention to the situation of women human rights defenders.”
The expected outcomes of the consultation are:
The establishment of a dialogue between the Special Rapporteur and NGOs, human rights institutions, and communities;
Increased awareness among defenders and representatives of civil society and communities concerning the Special Rapporteur’s mandate;
An enhanced understanding of the current situation of human rights defenders in the region, which will help the Special Rapporteur identify priorities for his thematic reports and/or country visits.
Thanks to Upworthy for sharing our video on why South Africa should not choose the Swedish Model which still partially criminalises sex work, but should rather fully decriminalise sex work!
Over the last few weeks, the South African government has deployed large numbers of police and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to conduct a series of raids in various parts of South Africa, most notably in the Johannesburg CBD. While government has claimed these raids are to address crime, in reality, this strategy targets foreign nationals living in the inner city, with the government implying that these individuals are criminals.
In April, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration initiated “Operation Fiela”, which means “sweep the dirt,” ostensibly to address crime. This operation, executed by the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the SANDF, has instead focused primarily on foreign nationals, and has so far included a raid on residents of the Central Methodist Church, which was previously a safe haven for poor migrants seeking refuge. Those arrested are to have their status verified by the Department of Home Affairs.
We echo the many human rights advocates who say that Operation Fiela, and similar actions by the state, are clear examples of institutionalised xenophobia. The name of this campaign alone is of concern, and allows for an interpretation that the government sees those who are most marginalised in our country – migrants and refugees, sex workers and others – as “dirt” that should be removed from society. Such designations exacerbate anti-foreigner sentiment, and are extremely incendiary and dangerous.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) have confirmed that the outcome of these raids is not the combatting of crime, but mass arrests of both foreign migrants and South African nationals. Wayne Ncube, Head of Immigration Detention at LHR, says that where they have been given access to visit detained migrants, many have reported that their arrests were conducted in a violent manner, with some police referring to them as “kwerekwere” – a derogatory term used to describe African foreign nationals in particular.
We welcome the South Gauteng High Court’s affirmative ruling on Tuesday May 12, on LHR’s application to halt the deportation of arrested, undocumented migrants, which was meant to take place yesterday. LHR will now be able to consult with these migrants, who may include asylum seekers and refugees. While the halting of the deportation is a positive step, it is not enough. We are calling on government to immediately fully end Operation Fiela, and similar activities, which only serve to make foreign migrants more insecure in South Africa, and go against previous promises of government, in the face of xenophobic violence, to build social cohesion.
The arrests of hundreds of men and women through Operation Fiela have reportedly resulted in the loss or confiscation of property of foreign nationals, including the documentation that many migrants and refugees are holding to show that they are legally in South Africa. Families are being torn apart, as men and women are often separated from each other and their children; adults are being sent to the Johannesburg Central Police Station while children are taken, sometimes without their parents, to refugee camps. “We found a four-month-old baby at the Mayfair Refugee Camp, left there without his mother or father, surviving on the breast milk of a lactating mother also in the camp,” says Demelza Bush, Multimedia Associate at Sonke Gender Justice, “This type of treatment is immoral and cruel.”
These events raise urgent concerns about the use of the army in civilian matters. The army is not adequately trained to participate in policing operations. The experiences of many of our neighbouring countries tell us that the deployment of the army for non-military matters can be a slippery slope that can quickly erode democracy.
“Conflict, the army, and guns have a devastating effect on the lives and dignity of most refugees living in South Africa,” says Pierrette Kengela Disanka of Sonke Gender Justice who has worked on refugee rights for many years, “Many documented refugees may leave South Africa because the army forces are being sent to their homes, their shops, their churches, and their tendency is to intimidate or threaten this population.”
“When the government sends police inside of Parliament, or sends the army to uncover and arrest undocumented migrants, we should be worried,” says Sonke’s Executive Director, Dean Peacock, “Government is using harassment, intimidation and bullying against foreign migrants instead of protecting them against xenophobic violence. Will we next see the army being used to quell labour disputes or political mobilisations?”
The reality is that Operation Fiela is only deepening the stigmatisation of foreign nationals in South Africa, especially those from other African countries, and making it difficult for all foreign migrants to integrate into South African society, especially those who have been arrested in these raids.
We call on government to desist with these raids and arrests which infringe on the rights of foreign nationals living in South Africa, and in fact all South Africans, obstructing our rights to dignity, security of the person, freedom of movement, and freedom from harassment and discrimination on the basis of ethnic differences.
Those who have been detained in prisons are being denied their right to appear before the courts, and kept in inhumane conditions. By implying that foreign nationals are responsible for crime in South Africa, government is stigmatising foreign nationals, destabilising the already fragile relations between some South Africans and foreign nationals, and deepening xenophobia in South Africa.
We demand that instead of continuing with these violent and human rights infringing raids and arrests, the government should focus its efforts on providing quality education, creating jobs and getting people out of poverty. Current state-led raids which disproportionately target African foreign nationals and paint them as criminals, are simply an attempt to divert attention from the ongoing socio-economic problems that have not been caused by immigrants, and will certainly continue whether or not foreign migrants live in South Africa.
Statement by:
Sonke Gender Justice
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)
Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)
Grassroot Soccer South Africa
MEDIA CONTACTS
Marlise Richter
Policy Development & Advocacy Specialist at Sonke Gender Justice
021 423 7088 marlise@genderjustice.org.za
Wayne Ncube
Head of Immigration Detention at Lawyers for Human Rights wayne@lhr.org.za
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