Tapiwa grew up in Zimbabwe, watching his father manipulate and control his mother. Wondering why women and men are not equals, he joined a gender club while in secondary school and eventually became an activist. Tapiwa is happy that over the years his father has changed and begun to speak out against gender violence and discrimination.
On Mothers’ Day, remember that nowhere in the world do men do an equal share of the unpaid home or care work. Mothers are important, but so are fathers. We encourage fathers to support mothers, and to play an active role in their children’s lives, by sharing the unpaid care-work. This helps fathers build stronger bonds with their children, and frees up mothers to also pursue economic and other opportunities.
On Mothers’ Day, celebrate the role and importance of mothers, and commit to gender equitable parenting!
“For fathers who are motivated to teach equality and fairness to their children, sharing the care work at home is a powerful message for them. More influential than talking about equality is practicing equality by doing the care work. Your children will get the lesson.”
— Oswaldo Montoya, MenEngage Global Co-Coordinator
“I encourage fathers to share the care work by pointing out their importance as caretakers and role models for their children; by clarifying the advantages of equitable partnership; by challenging them to reconsider the pros and cons of traditional men’s roles; and by asking them what kind of father, partner, and man they want to be, they want their sons to become, and they would wish their daughters and/or grandchildren to encounter in their lives.”
— Jens van Tricht, MenEngage Europe
[CP]
This video by Sonke Gender Justice, Just Detention International – SA and NICRO, shows the horror of rape in South Africa’s prison system, which often happens with the collusion of corrupt officials. The story of Francois (not his real name), is one such example.
Francois was violently raped twice in an Eastern Cape correctional centre, once at knife-point, and another on Valentine’s Day. He reported the rapes to the warders, but never received counselling or support. In despair, Francois attempted suicide. After being released, he sued the Department of Correctional Services, and after 10 years he accepted a settlement offer based on the promise that they would take action to stop inmates from being raped. When nothing changed, Francois decided to tell his story. Francois encourages other survivors to seek help and says “I know I can make it because I’m a survivor”.
The story includes photos of the abysmal conditions in the centre. This is a follow up to the earlier story Groundup covered on the complaints Sonke has been tracking with Lawyers for Human Rights.
Detainee tells of shocking conditions for awaiting trial prisoners | Groundup
Moved by the plight of migrants displaced by the recent xenophobic uprisings that hit parts of the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, today, a group of staff from the Sonke Johannesburg office visited the Mayfair refugee camp where some of the migrant communities are finding shelter.
Staff decided to raise money amongst themselves last week to help the displaced communities. The money was used to buy essential toiletries, including bath soap, toothpaste, sanitary towels for women and disposable nappies for babies.
“We are really in need of nappies”, said camp manager, Sarah Sithole, when presented with the parcels.
“Just yesterday, the police brought in seven children whose parents they have detained due to not being in possession of documents to be in South Africa. The youngest of these children is four months old. So, we have unaccompanied minors that we are taking care of amidst the number of adults who are here,” she continued.
“In total, there are 15 children, ranging from four months to 15 years of age,” added Tapiwa Marima, a social worker with the Gift of the Givers Foundation, which runs the camp.
“The number of people we have here fluctuates every day. Today, we have about 60 people, including women, men and children. There are people from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia,” he said.
Against this background, the Foundation appreciates any assistance it receives, no matter how big or small.
“We really appreciate what you have done for us and the people here today. This is what being human is all about,” said Marima.
“These are our brothers and sisters and we are all human. All of us are equally entitled to human rights without any discrimination. This was just a way to show solidarity and humaneness to our fellow human beings. It’s also to show that not all South Africans promote xenophobia or any form of hatred. We believe that those who perpetrate these crimes should be educated about human rights and Ubuntu,” said Sonke’s Nonhlanhla Skosana, who co-ordinated the out-reach event.
[by Khopotso Bodibe, pics by Demelza Bush]
Based on a number of factors including maternal and child health, education, income, and the political and economic status of women, this year’s Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers report determines that Norway is the best country for mothers. Nine of the ten worst countries are in sub Saharan Africa. Somalia is the last on the list, South Africa makes it into the top half at #72, and the USA has the worst maternal mortality rate:
Norway is No. 1 country in which to be a mom, US plummets to 33rd on annual list
nytlive.nytimes.com
The GBV NSP Campaign Partners (a coalition of more than 50 South African cilvil society organisations, including Sonke), have been calling on government to fund and implement a comprehensive National Strategic Plan (NSP) to end gender-based violence (GBV), which must be multisectoral and include widespread prevention strategies.
As part of our campaign to get government to commit to the GBV NSP, we launched a series of postcards, each with the story and photograph of a person/persons who have been affected by GBV.
On the back of the postcards, South Africans can write to government about why they think we must invest in a national plan to end gender-based violence.
The first batch of postcards were handed over to the Ministry of Women as part of the national #16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence campaign in December.
These are some of the portraits of the people featured in the postcards campaign.
[Photographs by Demelza Bush]
Sibongile, from Swaziland, lost her home and possessions as a result of gender discrimination and poverty. When her husband died of AIDS, his family forced her and her children out of their house. After struggling to survive, she found a job as an AIDS activist and now works to secure the equal rights of women and children in her country.
Special thanks to the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa for providing this story.
Sonke, as part of the Hate Crimes Working Group SA, was proud to host over 60 people at the Bioscope in the Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg, last night for the screening of Laura Fletcher’s award-winning documentary, ‘African Pride’.
Winner of Best Human Rights Documentary at Galway Film Fleadh 2014 and the Green Rose for Best Documentary with a Global Message at the Jaipur International Film Festival 2015, ‘African Pride’ shares the stories of lesbian women in South Africa’s townships who are meeting homophobic violence with visibility.
Sonke’s Demelza Bush facilitated a Q & A session with Laura Fletcher and Phindi Malaza from the Forum for the Empowerment of Women.
Great article by Sonke’s board chair Kopano Ratele and Mbuyiselo Botha, Sonke’s media relations manager on the need to engage men and boys to address our endemic levels of violence.
Our men and boys need help — and fast
www.bdlive.co.za
There is a connection between men’s violence against women, children and other men, and the historical violence of apartheid, write Mbuyiselo Botha and Kopano Ratele
What does it say about our society that Floyd Mayweather is the highest paid athlete in the world?1
What does it say about our society that millions of people paid $100 each to watch Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight?1
Even if you don’t think boxing is a violent sport, there’s no question that Mayweather is a violent man – he has spent time in jail for one instance of domestic battery (and plead guilty), though the allegations of violence against women are plentiful2. He has defended National Foorball League (NFL) player Ray Rice who was caught on video punching his then-fiancée (now wife) in the face…Men who beat up women and defend other men who beat up women — is this the kind of role modelling our children need?
The data is unclear whether violent sports lead to more off-field violence3, but in a 2010 paper published in Harvard’s Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, Bethany Withers wrote, “there is evidence that professional athletes are not punished by the leagues, teams, or criminal justice system as harshly or consistently as their general public counterparts. For example, in 1995, domestic violence cases involving athletes resulted in a thirty-six percent conviction rate, as compared to seventy-seven percent for the general public.” So, writes Anna North, “while the attention, money, and power that Goll cites may not make athletes more violent, these factors may well help them get away with violence.”4
Two female reporters also allege that they were blocked from the Mayweather fight because of their reporting on Mayweather’s history of domestic violence.2
This police statement by Mayweather’s son Koraun5 is chilling, and has gone viral while many of us are asking: Why are we celebrating men who beat up women and children? Why all the media hype and promotion of a person with such a history of abuse? Why turn someone like Mayweather into any kind of an icon? Why does media profit overshadow the truths of violence and contribute to the violent society we live in and the violence that is role modeled to our children?
On average at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime.5
What does it say about how society thinks about this when millions of people around the world cheer for a violent man, with a history of abuse, being violent, and help make him the highest paid athlete in the world?
— by Czerina Patel
Czerina Patel is Sonke Gender Justice’s Manager of Communications & Strategic Information
Nompumelelo’s story illustrates how the lack of knowledge about living with HIV and limited access to ARV treatment in rural areas causes unnecessary pain and loss. She has seen how a failure to disclose HIV status in relationships can lead to infection, and how a family’s lack of understanding can lead to fear and rejection. Nompumelelo wants people in her community to continue to learn how to care for people living with HIV and to do whatever it takes to prevent others from experiencing the pain and loss she has.
Lawyers against Abuse (LvA) is a new organisation providing pro bono, direct, and urgent legal services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence in Diepsloot. For the last while, LvA has been sharing a premises with Afrika Tikkun.
In order to raise funds for the construction of an office for LvA, they hosted an art auction on Thursday, 19 March. Pieces for the auction included work by William Kentridge and Thonton Kabeya.
Sonke Gender Justice donated a piece by our very own, very talented, Demelza Bush. The photograph, titled – Ngeniswa Jamella, sold for R4 000. Sonke did some GBV oversight work in the Dutywa, Eastern Cape area last year and Ngeniswa was one of the women we met.
From her interview: “A young man expressed interest in my daughter and unofficially took her as his wife. I raised the issue of Lobola, but he did not respond so I went to fetch my daughter and brought her home with me. The man then burnt my house and everything I own down and he physically assaulted my daughter. I am not alright, I make my own provisions to survive, I have no source of income, no salary or stipend. We don’t get any assistance from the police. We get victimized and the perpetrators are set free. We need to end the violence because we are dying, we are perishing, we are not being assisted in any way, we are struggling.”
Lawyers against Abuse (LvA) empowers victims of abuse with professional and specialised legal advice, assistance and representation, working within a referral network of partner organisations. In this way, LvA supports victims of gender-based violence to demand and enforce their human rights, including their rights to dignity, freedom from violence and equality. Sonke Gender Justice partners with LvA on some of its community education work.
Sonke’s Mbuyiselo Botha on the lack of justice for survivors of violence, and the urgent need for violence prevention work with men.
NGO: Men are literally getting away with murder
m.news24.com
Violence against SA women remains a problem because of power imbalances and the perception that there will be no consequences for criminal behaviour, Sonke Gender Justice says.
In this Digital Story, Lesly decries how the continued criminalisation of sex work and the absence of laws to protect sex workers place him and other sex workers at risk of abuse and discrimination from many sectors of society, including their clients.
Lesly relates how a deal with a client went wrong and the client threatened him with the police when he questioned him on an agreement that was the basis of him offering his services. He argues that if South Africa recognised sex work as an occupation, there would be an end to discrimination and violence against sex workers. “Society says sex work is immoral, but there is a demand for it. And it cannot be as immoral as rape, drugs and police brutality,” he says.
Sonke Gender Justice joined other civil society organisations and the community of Delft, in the Western Cape, in a peaceful march against xenophobia, this morning.
What does it say about our society that Floyd Mayweather is the highest paid athlete in the world?
What does it say about our society that millions of people paid $100 each to watch Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight?
Even if you don’t think boxing is a violent sport, there’s no question that Mayweather is a violent man – he has spent time in jail for one instance of domestic battery (to which he pleaded guilty), though the allegations are plentiful. He has defended NFL football player Ray Rice who was caught on video punching his then-fiancée (now wife) in the face. Men who beat up women and defend other men who beat up women – is this the kind of role model our children need?
The data is unclear whether violent sports lead to more off-field violence, but in a 2010 paper published in Harvard’s Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, Bethany Withers wrote, “there is evidence that professional athletes are not punished by the leagues, teams, or criminal justice system as harshly or consistently as their general public counterparts. For example, in 1995, domestic violence cases involving athletes resulted in a thirty-six percent conviction rate, as compared to seventy-seven percent for the general public.” So, writes Anna North, “while the attention, money, and power that Goll cites may not make athletes more violent, these factors may well help them get away with violence.” Two female reporters also allege that they were blocked from the Mayweather fight because of their reporting on Mayweather’s history of domestic violence.
This police statement by Mayweather’s son Koraun is chilling, and has gone viral while many of us are asking: Why are we celebrating men that beat up women and children? Why all the media hype and promotion of a person with such a history of abuse? Why turn someone like Mayweather into any kind of an icon? Why does media profit overshadow the truths of violence and contribute to the violent society we live in and the violence that is role modeled to our children?
Sonke’s prisons work is featured in an article on the violation of health rights in South African prisons in the Mail and Guardian.
http://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-23-prisoners-health-rights-routinely-violated-in-sas-jails
Sonke staff members participated in a silent march against Xenophobia, organised by the Methodist Church in Mfuleni.
Another march, led by Sonke’s MenCare+ team will take place in Mfuleni next week on April 27 2015 @ 10:00.
#NOTOXENOPHOBIA
Street soccer for reintegration: One of the ways Sonke Gender Justice responded to the 2008 xenophobic attacks.
Zithulele is a writer and performer from South Africa. He ponders the meaning of fatherhood in his life, past and present. As a child, he was regularly disciplined and beaten by his father. As an adult, he loves his father dearly and thanks him for making him the person he is today. In the end, Zithulele wonders what kind of father he will be.
These pictures were taken in the wake of the 2008 xenophobic violence. We didn’t use the posters then. It’s tragic that we need to now. Please use and share as needed.
Sonke stands against xenophobia
These pictures were taken in the wake of the 2008 xenophobic violence. We didn’t use the posters then. It’s tragic that we need to now. Please use and share as needed.
Paul’s journey began at a young age, when he and his peers challenged the apartheid regime’s Group Areas Act to visit gay bars in Johannesburg. He subsequently took part in South Africa’s first-ever official gay pride march, which brought gay men, lesbians and their many supporters into the streets to stand up for their rights and dignity.
Special thanks to the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa for providing this story:
