Join the Campaign to Stop Rape in Conflict
Join the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict now. More than ever, this campaign is vitally important – with war in Syria and Gaza, and in the DRC, where the rebel forces now in control of Goma are headed up by Bosco Ntaganda, a man sought by the International Criminal Court for orchestrating […]
Questionnaire on the work of the CGE
With the intention of obtaining a comprehensive analysis of the work of the CGE during the 100 Days Campaign, the CGE Monitor kindly asks civil society organisations and individuals to fill out the attached questionnaire, which contains questions regarding their experience with the CGE between 1 June 2012 and 23 October 2012. » Kindly complete […]
Sonke and Centre for Human Rights at University of Pretoria hold course on working with men and boys for gender equality
‘The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality’ course was run from the 5th to 9th November 2012 at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Law, as a collaboration between Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) and Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, and with financial support from Irish Aid. The aim of the short […]
Sonke awarded prestigious runner-up award in Mail & Guardian Drivers for Change Awards
Sonke is very proud to be this year’s Civil Society Award runner-up in the Mail & Guardian annual Drivers for Change/Investing in the Future awards. Mail & Guardian reporter Iwan Pienaar wrote a summary of Sonke’s work, which you can read here. This year the winning organisation was Enke: Make your Mark, a youth entrepreneurship organisation that […]
UN Expert Group Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand
Sonke Executive Director Dean Peacock presented a paper at the UN Expert Group Meeting on prevention of violence against women and girls, in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was convened in preparation for the fifty-seventh session of the Commission of the Status of Women, the priority theme of which is ‘Elimination and prevention of all forms […]
Sonke awarded runner-up in Interpersonal/Community Category at AfriComNet Awards for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Communication
Sonke was listed as a runner-up in the 2012 Africomnet Awards. The shortlist we were placed on “represents examples of good, effective and innovative HIV communication initiatives/campaigns which have the potential for replication.” » View the past winners
Sonke awarded runner-up award in M&G 2012 Investing in the Future Awards
Sonke received a prestigious runner-up award in the Mail & Guardian 2012 Investing in the Future Awards for our One Man Can Campaign, working with men and boys to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in their communities. » Read the Mail & Guardian article
Sonke and Mail & Guardian host Critical Thinking Forum on violence prevention
From an article on the Forum, published by Daily Maverick: “After a rolling a series of comments, the audience began to fidget. Edging towards 21:00 on a weekday, the speakers had shown us parts of the engine of violence, but what could we do? The most practical answer came from Sonke’s Mbuyiselo Botha. The organisation’s […]
UNFPA and Sonke partner on international meeting on gender transformation in JHB Oct, 2012
Dear colleagues, We are very happy to report that we had successful meetings in Johannesburg October 1-5, 2012 on “Gender transformative norms” and “UNAIDS Agenda for accelerated action on HIV for Women and Girls”. UNFPA staff members from ESA countries and partners were committed, working very hard, sometimes late in the day to carry the […]
Sonke, JDI and Wits Justice Project call for a more independent Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services
On 30 October, Sonke, JDI and Wits Justice Project made a submission to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, urging for a strengthened and more independent Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services. The Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) is a vital watchdog body that oversees South Africa’s correctional system, and is mandated to inspect […]
Zuma concedes Traditional Courts Bill is flawed but attacks those opposed to it
President Jacob Zuma on Thursday acknowledged to the National House of Traditional Leaders that the Traditional Courts Bill is flawed because, among others, it balkanises black rural people according to the tribal boundaries of the defunct Bantustans. The President’s concession that the current Bill cannot be passed is a great victory for the rural people […]
Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration Gender course in Oslo, Norway
Sonke staff Bafana Khumalo and Micheline Muzaneza attended the Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) Gender course in Oslo from the 16th to the 22nd of September 2012. The purpose of the course was for participants to acquire skills and learn how to implement and monitor gender responsive DDR programmes. Sonke was included because the organisation works in […]
Sonke IMAGES Research in DRC Cited by Women Under Siege
“The South African-based Sonke Gender Justice and the Brazilian nonprofit Promundo asked more than 1,400 men and women around Goma, in Congo’s North Kivu province, about their attitudes on rape, gender, why they commit sexualized violence, and what the fallout has been for them. According to the researchers, 37 percent of men surveyed said they […]
CGE Monitor wraps up 100 days campaign
Sonke and the CGE Monitor are finalising a report on the CGE’s performance in the first 100 days of the new commissioners in office. The CGE is an independent institution set up by the state to strengthen constitutional supremacy and guard democracy in South Africa. The CGE is subject only to the Constitution and the […]
Sonke and UCT host first MenEngage Africa Training Initiative course
Sonke Gender Justice, the MenEngage Africa Network and the Women’s Health Research Unit of the University of Cape Town facilitated a groundbreaking ten day training course on Masculinities, Leadership and Gender Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa from 20-30 August 2012. The course, the first one of the MenEngage Africa Training Initiative, also known as MATI, took […]
Welcome back Bafana Khumalo
Bafana Khumalo is a Co-Founder of Sonke, and worked as co-director of the organisation from 2006-2010 and as manager of Sonke’s International Programmes Unit and the Policy, Advocacy and Research Unit from 2010-2011. He is currently a Senior Programmes Specialist. In the time he has been away from Sonke, Bafana served as a Commissioner for […]
One Man Can Beyond the Bars
In September this year, Sonke launched its first Community Action Team (CAT) consisting of ex-inmates – One Man Can Beyond the Bars. So far, five sessions have been held at the Gugulethu Wellness clinic, with around ten participants at each. Why an ex-inmate community action team? Earlier this year, Sonke identified a gap in its […]
Learners and inmates engage in debate
On Tuesday the 30th October, Sonke’s Cape Town prisons team organised an event at Goodwood Correctional Centre that brought together school learners and inmates to discuss issues facing the youth and HIV. Sonke staff and the Refugee Health and Rights Community Action Team (RHR CAT) arrived to the sounds of the Goodwood Jazz Band warming […]
UK’s Guardian Newspaper Publishes Long Article on Sonke’s IMAGES Research in DRC
The UK’s Guardian newspaper, among the most widely read and influential newspapers worldwide, yesterday published a long article covering the Sonke-ProMundo IMAGES research in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The article comments on the disturbing results of the research: that one in three men admit to committing sexual violence, and three-quarters of men believe that […]
Sonke’s work featured as Best Practice in Global AIDS Response Progress Report
Sonke’s work to integrate a focus on gender into the 2012-2016 National Strategic Plan has been featured as example of best practice in Global AIDS Response Progress Report 2012, submitted by South Africa to UNAIDS (see page 83).
IMAGES report on men, masculinities and GBV in Eastern DRC reveals alarming attitudes about rape amongst many men
In June 2012, Sonke Gender Justice, Promundo-US and the Institute for Mental Health of Goma implemented the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) in Goma, North Kivu, DRC. A total of 708 men and 754 women between the ages of 18-59 were interviewed in: (1) rural areas outside Goma; (2) Goma proper; (3) an […]
Sonke partners with UNIVEN Radio and TVEP
A large part of Sonke’s work is community education and workshops, which give people the opportunity to engage on a personal level with the various issues we work on. However, there are only so many people that one organisation can reach when engaging participants in a workshop, or one-on-one. To reach people in areas where Sonke has […]
Community perceptions of re-integrating ex-offenders
It was on the 18th of July 2012 and I was hosting the radio show that I present every Wednesday from 10 to 12 in the morning. The topic that day was re-integration of prisoners in their families and communities. I started as usual by introducing myself and the day’s topic: “How do we treat […]
I never saw it coming…
It was Tuesday evening around 6pm; I left Braamfontein heading for the Bree Taxi rank to catch a taxi home. There are two routes to my home – Wilgeheuwel in Roodepoort, either via Clearwater Mall or Honeydew. If my husband doesn’t come to pick me up, I usually take a taxi to Honeydew from Braamfontein. […]
