Traditional Leaders Wield the Power, and They Are Almost All Men
In African society, the sphere of influence of traditional leaders continues to be strong, especially in rural areas. As heads of their communities, traditional leaders are key decision makers and the custodians of tradition, culture and rites. Civil society organisations have realised that if they want to tackle important social issues in rural communities on […]
MenCare in Matzikama
In the northern areas of the Western Cape governed by the Matzikama municipality, almost half of the population is jobless. Liquor stores in the towns provide a predictable outlet for people’s boredom and frustrations-and contribute to a range of social problems: fighting and aggression, substance abuse, domestic and sexual violence, child abuse and absent parenting. The […]
Integrating Strategies to Address Gender-Based Violence and Engage Men and Boys to Advance Gender Equality Through National Strategic Plans on HIV and AIDS
The UN Interagency Working Group on Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV, (represented by UNDP, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UN Women and WHO), in collaboration with the MenEngage Alliance, Sonke Gender Justice and ATHENA Network, has convened two global consultations on Integrating Strategies to Address Gender-based Violence and Engage Men and Boys to Advance Gender Equality through […]
Africa Belongs to All Those Who Live and Work in it
South Africa prides itself on having one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. The Bill of Rights guarantees a host of basic political, cultural and socio-economic rights to all who are resident in the country. Yet refugees and migrants face great difficulties in accessing information and services, often due to legal insecurities, language […]
Working with Men and Boys
We have advanced significantly in the last 20 years to make gender and gender inequalities visible in terms of the lives of women and girls. We have, however, too often neglected how gender plays out in the lives of men and boys – to the detriment of women, and to the detriment of men and […]
Branching Out
One Man Can is Sonke’s flagship campaign that promotes the idea that everyone has a role to play in creating a better, more equitable and more just world. It encourages men and boys to take action – “to build a movement, demand justice, claim our rights and change the world”, with particular focus on ending […]
One Man Can Challenge Xenophbobia
Originally published as Showing the Suffering of the Violated in the Johannesburg Star newspaper on page 7, December 12 2008. Written by Ufrieda Ho.
Enlisting Men for Women’s Equality
According to numerous studies, South Africa has the highest incidence of reported rape in any country. In 2006 the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) surveyed 1,370 male volunteers from 70 rural villages. It found that close to one in four of the men surveyed had participated in sexual violence. Of the total, 16.3 per […]
“Don’t Keep it to Yourself”
Sonke’s Digital Storytelling Project involves workshops that guide participants in creating their own multimedia stories that address critical issues in their communities such as rape, gender roles, HIV/AIDS, and violence. A facilitator from the Silence Speaks project of the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California worked with Sonke staff to support workshop participants in […]
Involving the Other Gender
The rates of violence against women and HIV/AIDS are extremely high in KwaZulu-Natal. Because most of the perpetrators of violence against women are men, it is important to look at their specific identity and behavior in the context of historical South Africa and how that is affecting masculinity today. The Men as Partners (MAP) program, […]
Case Studies from the South African Men as Partners Network
HIV has infected an estimated 6 million South Africans, the highest number of any country and deaths resulting from the virus have already left around one million children orphans. Not only are women much more likely to be infected than men, but as a result of traditional gender roles, the burden of caring for those […]
