MenEngage Madagascar held its annual general meeting (AGM) on the 7th of February 2020. The meeting looked back on the work that it did in 2019 as well as discussed and presented MenEngage Madagascar’s action plan for the year 2020. The first quarter of the year will focus on the following: Capacity building activities for …
MenEngage Madagascar’s first annual general meeting Read More »
Sonke Gender Justice and #UniteBehind joint action highlighting issues of gender-based violence on women and children on public transport. The action took place at the tail end of transport month on the 31st October 2019 at the Cape Town Station. Activists, public transport commuters and other road users shared their experiences and converged to demand …
#SafeRide: Highlighting issues of GBV on women and children on public transport Read More »
Thousands of protesters converged on Parliament in Cape Town, Western Cape to demand an address from President Cyril Ramaphosa. This is in response to the rising levels of gender-based violence in South Africa and days after the brutal murder of University of Cape Town student, Uyinene Mrwentyana. To chants of “enough is enough” the president …
As World Refugee Day 2019 is observed, civil society organisations, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and South Africans came together to celebrate their similarities and diversity. DRC immigrant, Alain Kanane, captured the event after being instructed by Sonke Gender Justice Multimedia Specialist, Gadeeja Abbas and communicators intern, Victoria Smith. Browse through the images and see World …
On 5 June 2019, the ‘Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work’, sex workers and allies thanked the President for his commitment to the decriminalisation of sex work and presented a representative with a bouquet of sunflowers in front of the gates of Parliament.
The Alliance for Rural Democracy held a night vigil on 4 June 2019 with community members from seven provinces in South Africa. These provinces were all gathered in anticipation for the march that would take place the morning of 5 June 2019. The morning of 5 June 2019, Sonke Gender Justice, CAT members and other …
On 6 June 2019, Community Action Team (CAT) members protested outside of court to support the call for greater oversight over South African prisons. Sonke Gender Justice and Lawyers for Human Rights filed an application in the Western Cape High Court, citing the government and the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (“JICS”) as respondents. The …
Community Action Team protests for greater oversight of South African prisons Read More »
Download the report here. On May 22, Sonke Gender Justice in collaboration with other civil society partners hosted a roundtable discussion on positive policing. The Positive Policing Partnership (‘the PPP’) focuses on identifying advocacy opportunities to establish and support innovative civil society, policing and government collaborations to catalyse positive change in the operational policing experience …
Sonke and partners host roundtable discussion on Positive Policing Partnership Read More »
The South African Constitution makes provision for public involvement in lawmaking, oversight and other processes of Parliament. South Africa’s democratic system not only provides for citizens to elect their representatives, but also allows citizens to have a say in matters that affect them. One of the ways that the public can make their voices heard …
On 28 November 2018, During 16 Days of Activism, Sonke Gender Justice launched a ground-breaking gender-based violence (GBV) forum in Mnquma in the Eastern Cape. The forum is a multi-sectoral, coordinating structure for the prevention and response to GBV at a local level. It’s aims is to facilitate partnerships on a municipal, political, traditional, religious …
Launch of Mnquma GBV Forum brings stakeholders together Read More »
On 1 August 2018, the women and gender non-conforming people of Sonke marched in solidarity with our sisters around the country demanding that government take concrete action to end gender-based violence in South Africa. Read this article published in the Independent Online, written by the women and gender non-conforming people of Sonke about why we joined …
On 12 July 2018, Sonke Gender Justice and Gugulethu community members picketed outside of the Wynberg Magistrate Court to support the family of a 12-year old girl who was abducted and raped last year by a 24-year old man. For more than two hours, over 50 community activists stood outside in the cold winds and …
Every work day, more than 5,4 million public transport trips are made in South Africa. Close to 68% of these being public transport trips made by taxi, 20% by bus, and 13% by train. While delays, reduction or cancellation of services, state capture, corruption and infrastructural degradation are problems that people grapple with in their …
Armed with a talent and passion for hair braiding, one woman’s journey across continents has helped to bridge cultural divides in the Western Cape community of Delft. Read the article, published in the Weekend Argus, here.
Constitutional Court judge Edwin Cameron, Venessa Padayachee, Thulani Ndlovu and Jean Redpath speaks at Sonke’s Criminal Justice Symposium on 22 June 2018.
On World Refugee Day (20 June 2018), Sonke Gender Justice and the residents of Gugulethu and Salt River gathered together to acknowledge the lived experiences of refugees and encourage the South African government to respect migrant and refugee rights.
The 2nd MenEngage Africa Symposium running from 23-26 April 2018, is underway in Maputo, Mozambique. The symposium brings together a network of gender justice activists, NGOs, government leaders, policy-makers and other actors working with men and boys on the African continent, to share best practice, learn and discuss issues such as the interaction of feminism and …
On Friday 6 April 2018, Sonke Gender Justice, together with various civil society partners, staged a creative activism event – “The Department of Happiness Affairs”, based on the principles of The Theatre of the Oppressed, a form of popular community-based education that uses theatre as a tool for social change. Refugees and asylum seekers – …
“The Department of Happiness Affairs” – Open Cape Town’s Refugee Reception Office Read More »
On the 20 March 2018, in celebration of Human Rights Day, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Sonke Gender Justice and Sex Worker Education & Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) launched a research report titled “The Policing of Sex Work in South Africa: A research report on the human rights challenges across two South African Provinces”. The …
Sonke joined the Central Methodist Mission, Cape Town on March 1, 2018, in unveiling the latest addition to its Yellow Banner Theology programme. This Church is one of the first religious institutions in South Africa to publicly support the decriminalisation of sex work. Minister Alan Storey delivered a strong message that Jesus Christ was the …
On Tuesday 28 November 2017, Sonke and other civil society parters marched to Nyanga Police station to draw attention to the high rates of gender-based violence in the Gugulethu community and to reiterate our urgent demand for government to implement a National Strategic Plan on gender-based violence. We are calling on our government to improve …
#16Days: Residents of Gugulethu demand safety in our community Read More »
“To end violence, we urgently need to employ the multiple strategies of evidence, action and accountability”, said Bafana Khumalo, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Co-Founder of Sonke Gender Justice, at the opening of the Five Days of Violence Prevention Conference in Johannesburg, which started today, Monday, 2nd October 2017. The Five Days of Violence Prevention …
“We must have zero tolerance for all forms of violence” Read More »
Up to 20% of all new HIV infections in South Africa in 2010 were related to sex work, according to a modelling study by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids) published in that year. The research was cited in a South African National Aids Council report. Although the HIV infection rate …
What sex workers and clients really want you to know about the business of sex Read More »
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