This booklet outlines activities that took place over the life of the project and highlights stories of change. We hope by sharing project approaches, insights, and stories of real change, we can contribute to knowledge, learning and inspiration for safer lives for people in all their diversity while advancing implementation and acceptance of gender transformative approaches for GBV prevention and gender equality.
Publication Type: Reports
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Baseline Study Of SRHR Strategies For Universal Health Coverage Project In Africa report
The “Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Strategies for Universal Health Coverage in Africa” project, funded by the Norwegian government, aims to empower women, girls, adolescents, and persons with disabilities in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda to advocate for and access universal health coverage. Facilitated by MenEngage Africa, the project focuses on three outcomes: capacitating target groups, engaging communities on SRHR rights, and strengthening service delivery systems.
This baseline evaluation aimed to assess the pre-implementation status of the project’s strategic objective and outcome indicators, assess the capacity of implementing partners, and analyse laws and policies related to comprehensive sexuality education. It targeted stakeholders involved in SRHR advocacy and programming, including, MEA implementing partners, government entities, and grant holders, who will utilise the evaluation findings for decision making, strategic planning, and resource allocation.
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Gender analysis report – ADA
Funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the ‘Linking policy and implementation for gender equality’ project is a 3-year project implemented in 3 countries in Africa, namely Malawi, Namibia, and Zimbabwe and each country is unique and different in terms of political, cultural, social and economic contexts. Having completed year two of implementing the project, a gender analysis was required of each country to inform the project in going forward. The detailed gender analysis carried out further identified country specific gaps and barriers concerning policies and/or barriers for their implementation. The gender analysis will be expected to guide the policy priorities of the respective country projects.
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State of the Zimbabwe’s Fathers Report
SAfAIDS, Sonke Gender Justice, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) aim to enhance knowledge and awareness about unpaid care work and its connection to gender-based violence in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. An independent consultancy firm, Anokha Consulting, was commissioned by the consortium to conduct the ‘State of Fathers’ Report’ in Zimbabwe.
The key objectives of the State of Fathers Report, focusing on unpaid care work, are as follows:
- To assess the perceptions, beliefs, behaviour and attitudes of fathers towards unpaid care work in Zimbabwe;
- To determine the extent to which unpaid care work is contributing to GBV including IPV and gender inequality;
- To determine extent to which GBV, and gender equality policies and related frameworks are influencing gender norms and;
- To generate findings that will be used to develop and strengthen interventions, inform policy development, promote gender equality, and assist in quantifying the economic value of unpaid care work.
The research employed a mixed-method approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The study embraced a consultative and participatory process, involving regular meetings, emails, and calls with Sonke Gender Justice, SAfAIDS, and implementing partners at the district level. Additionally, the study incorporated a validation workshop, which informed the process of strengthening and validating the study’s findings. It fostered multi-level stakeholder engagement, spanning global, regional, national, sub-national (including Bulawayo, Manicaland, Mashonaland East, and Matebeleland North), and community levels in the districts of Bulawayo, Mutare, Seke/Chitungwiza, and Hwange. The researchers conducted 45 Key Informant interviews, 15 FGDs (with 160 respondents), and 697 one-on-one questionnaires (of which 403 were males, representing 57.8%, and 294 were females, representing 42.2%).
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The South African CSO working group voluntary national review report
The second CSOs ‘People’s report’ produced on behalf of the South African CSOs Working Group on SDGs (SAWG). Sonke Gender Justice made inputs to SDG5. This report serves as a complementary report/annexure to the official VNR report, highlighting specific aspects of SDG delivery. It aims to amplify the voices of grassroots and marginalised communities, foster multi-stakeholder engagement, and highlight key challenges and opportunities, adhering to the principle of Leaving No One Behind.
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USAID/Lesotho Khutlo Project Formative Research Report
This Formative Research was carried out to collect and analyse baseline information to determine the magnitude and drivers of violence against the LGBTQI+ community and cishet women and girls, to map community-based networks and establish local GBV resources, to gather relevant data for key project indicators to depict the actual situation in the project areas and to create a benchmark for evaluating the project measuring results, to inform the development of key program social behavior change (SBC) materials, and, to identify any potential challenges or barriers to success that may need to be addressed before implementing the Khutlo Activity. The findings of the Formative Research will be used by Sonke, Pact and other relevant stakeholders to establish the baseline markers for the project’s key performance indicators and guide project implementation. This research study looks into the under explored issue of GBV targeting the LGBTQI+ community in Lesotho, as well as exploring the context of GBV among cishet women and girls, specifically focusing on the three districts of Maseru, Leribe and Mokhotlong. This executive summary provides an overview of the key findings, implications, conclusions, and recommendations arising from the research.
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The Power to Youth Expedition
As we move forward and embrace new opportunities that 2024 brings, take a look at how our Power To Youth Network in Uganda created impact in the previous year. This journey book recapitulates the landmarks of 2023. Have an interesting read!
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Detailed Policy Report for Uganda
The analysis found that Uganda’s policies and plans regarding HIV need to be updated, and should include a stronger emphasis on targeting men and influencing gender norms. Gender-based violence (GBV) policies and plans prioritise the need to engage with men, but that the accompanying laws are lacking. While the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policies are strong in terms of engaging with men as clients of SRH, they are weak in terms of engaging with men as partners or as advocates for change. Uganda’s parenting policies are inconsistent in terms of positively engaging with men.
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Fund, Respond, Protect, Collect: A Desktop Review of the legal and policy frameworks that address gender-based violence in Africa
Across the world, gender-based violence continues to perpetuate harm against women and girls in their diversity. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to further vulnerability for women, with levels of gender-based violence (GBV), unemployment and insecurity heightened in already gender-unequal contexts. A survey on East and Southern Africa by UN Women revealed that more than 50% of respondents felt that gender-based vio- lence had increased during the pandemic. In a context where 46% of African women are estimated to have experienced some form of gender-based violence in their life- time, these COVID-related vulnerabilities represent a worrying trend.
It is imperative that research reflects on the legal and policy frameworks that exist to address gender-based violence in Africa, with special prioritization of women and girls’ experiences. In 2021, the theme for the annual ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’ campaign was ‘Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Pre- vent, Collect’ – foregrounding the neces- sary shifts in the distribution of resources to women on the frontlines of responding to gender-based violence, the equitable pro- vision of services for victims and survivors of GBV, targeted interventions supporting prevention-initiatives, and responding to the gap in available data concerning what works.
This report seeks to consolidate evidence from across the continent on the existing regional frameworks and interventions focused on gender-based violence. It then explores case studies on prevention and response strategies across different coun- tries, highlighting what has worked in the prevention of and response to GBV. The report then explores the role of civil soci- ety in this work and recommendations for multisectoral collaboration going forward.
The paper argues that no single, isolated strategy to address gender-based vio- lence can be effective, rather deploying a whole-systems approach to gender-just and equitable policy development, resourc- ing and implementation (in collaboration with civil society) is critical to move the needle forward in the GBV-response.
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A rapid assessment on the impact of COVID-19 stimulus packages in Sub-Saharan Africa on gender and gender-based violence
This report outlines the findings of a rapid assessment study on the impact of COVID-19 stimulus packages in Sub-Saharan Africa and their effects on gender and gender-based violence. Case studies were drawn from 6 selected countries: namely, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
This Report was Submitted by Ingula Yesive for Sonke Gender Justice
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Side-lined: Experiences of sex workers throughout the lockdown
This study conducted by Sonke Gender Justice in partnership with Sisonke will explore the lives of sex workers. Sex workers have been excluded by the law as the industry is still criminalised in South Africa. For this reason, sex workers are stigmatised and discriminated against even by public service providers, such as law enforcement and the healthcare system. With this in mind, this paper aims to look at the experiences of sex workers during the COVID-19 lockdown and how this further affected their lives and livelihoods, which are already challenging.
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Analysis of the criminal records expungement process in South Africa
The issue of criminal records and the expungement process is undoubtedly a complex one, attracting much debate, largely resulting from archaic understandings of criminality. For too long this discourse has been used to rationalise the collective marginalisation of people with criminal records from society, which has not only been a justification for systemic discrimination across various sectors, but also actively contributes to cycles of violence and inequality that have significantly impaired South Africa’s socio-economic development.
In South Africa, there are thousands of people who have been directly and indirectly impacted by the criminal records system. Irrespective of the type of crimes people have committed, the stigma of their criminal history creates barriers to employment, starting a business, accessing skills, learning opportunities, and generally engaging in the economy in a way that utilises their unique capabilities. Excluding people with criminal records from the economy in this way not only contributes to the country’s soaring unemployment rates, but also increases their risk of recidivism, thereby adversely affecting the safety and security of their families, community and society as a whole.
Sex workers are particularly vulnerable to the grips of the criminal legal system, with many of them experiencing police harassment and acquiring criminal records. Sex work is currently fully criminalised under South African law,1 effectively deeming anyone buying, selling and facilitating the sale of sex as criminals. However, since it is difficult to prosecute someone for engaging in sex work (unless caught in the act), authorities tend to rely on entrapment and municipal by- laws, such as loitering, to arrest sex workers. Criminal records simply serve to exacerbate the stigma that this highly marginalised group already experience on a daily basis.
Therefore, it becomes essential to consider the effectiveness of the current criminal record expungement process in South Africa. One needs to question what the intended purposes of criminal records are; whether these purposes are met in practice; and whether they are in fact legitimate and proportionate in relation to the associated negative impact on people in society. It is in this light that the present report will provide an overview and critical analysis of the governing criminal records expungement process in South Africa, and make practical recommendations to improve the status quo. Ultimately, the aim is to restore the dignity of people with criminal records by challenging the legitimacy of the narratives that have been used to justify their exclusion from society; curating spaces for their experiences to be validated; and creating opportunities to elevate their potential both as individuals and as a collective.
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State of South Africa’s Fathers 2021
This is the second issue of an evolving report, planned for publication every three years. It can be used in the development of policy and legislation for families, labour market regulations, educational curricula, and other training materials. It can be referenced as a source of expert information for advocacy and community groups, individual families, and legislative committees. It contains specific recommendations for shifting norms towards gender-equitable parenting, and highlights men’s caregiving as an institutional and social priority. The report promotes a nuanced approach to fatherhood for improved support for families in South Africa.
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The State of Uganda’s Fathers Report
The State of Uganda Father’s report 2021 is the inaugural report of its kind in Uganda. The report is a product of the AfriChild Center and is inspired by ‘State of The World’s Fathers’ Produced by Promundo-US. The first-ever “State of the World’s Fathers” report was published in 2015, and followed by subsequent editions published in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. This report aims to impact power structures, policies, and social norms around care work and to advance gender equality. It joins a growing set of related country- and region focused reports on men’s caregiving around the world
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State of the Tanzania’s Fathers (SOTFs) Report
This study’s objective was to explore the level of Tanzani- an men’s engagement in parenting, caregiving, Child Rights Protection (CRP), promoting gender equality, and preventing Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
The focus on fatherhood stems from its importance as an entry-point to address gender inequality, particularly cycles of violence such as Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Violence Against Children (VAC). To achieve transfor- mative and sustainable social change around gender equality and equitable involvement of male caregivers is not only important, but necessary.
This study was qualitatively conducted in 9 regions of Tanzania Mainland, involving 63 participants: 52 parents equally distributed between mothers and fathers, 5Government officials and 6 representatives from NGOs. Moreover, documentary review was used to collect secondary data. It is important to note that this is the first time that such study has been conducted in Tanzania.
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Scorecard on FGM Laws and Policies in Five (5) MenEngage Africa Countries
Legislation plays a crucial role in defining and sustaining social and gender norms by clearly establishing a country’s national priorities and setting aside resources for their implementation. Laws and policies have the potential to lead to largescale changes in addressing social norms and institutional cultures that continue to perpetuate inequalities and violence against women and girls such as the practice of FGM. To achieve this and be most effective, laws and policies should be gender transformative to ensure they do not reinforce negative societal values and norms. However, policies and laws alone cannot effect long-term and sustained change. While they are an integral first step, they must be followed up by effective implementation.
This Scorecard provides an assessment of national laws and policies in five (5) countries i.e Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda which are part of the MEA Alliance and also fall under the UNICEF/UNFPA Spotlight Initiative on addressing FGM to establish whether or not they outlaw the practice of FGM; and whether or not such laws and policies promote the engagement of men and boys to address harmful social, cultural and gender norms and practices that perpetuate the practice of FGM.
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Scan on FGM laws and policies in 5 MenEngage Africa countries
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the practice of partially or totally removing the external female genitalia or otherwise injuring the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) FGM comprises ‘all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.’2 FGM has been recognised as a harmful practice and a violation of the human rights of girls and women. The procedure is risky and life-threatening for girls both during the procedure and throughout the course of their lives. It is also a form of violence against women with devastating short-term and long-term impacts on the lives of women and girls, limiting their potential for full development, and a major obstacle to the achievement of gender equality.
Despite the many global and national efforts to promote its elimination, FGM still remains widespread in many countries. According to estimates by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) at least three million girls undergo FGM on the African continent alone each year.4 This reflects deep-rooted discrimination against girls and women, profoundly entrenched in social, economic and political structures. Consequently, the practice of FGM has received a great deal of attention in recent years at both the national and international levels. Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been internationally recognized as a violation of the rights, health and integrity of women and girls. Notably, the global consensus on the need to eliminate all forms of FGM worldwide is clearly reflected in Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 and in several United Nations Resolutions.
Ensuring a legal framework is in place that clearly outlaws FGM is an important step towards ending the practice. Having a national law is an important step towards ending FGM but for it to be effective, the law must be implemented and enforced. This paper seeks to provide a policy scan and analysis of laws and policies in 5 selected African countries, namely Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Mali and Uganda. The paper does not exhaust all national laws and policies relating to FGM per country but uses a score card to examine key elements that should be integrated into any legislative reform process addressing FGM.
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Evaluation of the Changing the River’s Flow for Young People (CTRF4YP) Programme
Background and Context
SAfAIDS, in partnership with Sonke Gender Justice, implemented a two-year gender- transformative programme aimed at transforming gender roles and promoting more gender-equitable relationships between young men and women to reduce HIV, gender- based violence (GBV) and promote positive sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The programme was titled ‘Changing the River’s Flow – A Gender Transformative Programme for Young People (CTRF4YP)’. The 2-year programme was implemented across 24 communities in four districts of Zimbabwe. It was done in partnership with the following implementing partners, Seke Rural Home Based Care (SRHBC), Seke District; Diocese of Mutare Community Care Programme (DOMCCP), Nyanga district; Buwalo Matilikilo Trust (BMT), Hwange district; and FACT Chiredzi (FACT), Chiredzi District. Primary targets of the programme were adolescents and young people (10–24 year olds). The secondary targets were adults and community leaders (25+ years). The programme utilised many models such as the community dialogue model, Youth for Gender Transformation (Y4GT) Clubs and Fatherhood Clubs.
An independent consultancy firm (Primson Management Services) was commissioned to conduct an end of project evaluation for the programme. The evaluation focused on assessing the levels of programme effectiveness, efficiency, impact, relevance and sustainability. It also sought to document lessons learnt and generate recommendations for programme scale up.
Methodology
The evaluation used a rigorous mixed method approach, using a set of interrelated methods. Literature was reviewed to form building blocks for situational and context analysis and to inform the process of stakeholder mapping and analysis. A gender balanced score card was administered in 17 schools, targeting 340 in-school participants of 34 groups (17 males and 17 females). The methodology also included administration of a one-on-one questionnaire, which reached a total of 665 respondents. The aforementioned respondents comprised (i) 423 in-school youths (182 males and 241 females) (ii) 97 out-of-school youths (56 males and 41 females); and (iii) 145 parents (82 males and 63 females). The evaluation team also conducted a total of 62 key informant interviews at national, district and school community levels. At community level, a total of 28 focus group discussions (FGDs), consisting of 248 participants were administered across all four districts.
Key Findings
Relevance: The evaluation rated relevance of the programme as most useful to the community’s development challenges and needs. Key national and community development needs included addressing culture and negative gender norms that are deep seated, particularly in rural farming and mining communities. Such norms lead to harmful practices that include: child marriages, teenage pregnancies; gender-based violence and child pledging. In turn, the practices lead to negative health outcomes like HIV and maternal mortality. There was generally low knowledge on inequitable gender norms, HIV and SRHR within the communities, which also leads to an increase in harmful practices that put young people under a lot of risk. The programme is aligned to key national development priorities enshrined in various policy and strategic documents. The programme contributed to the development and production of the National Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH) Strategy 2016-2020.
Effectiveness: The CTRF4YP was graded as satisfactory as most results were achieved in the stipulated time, but with a few challenges encountered in implementation. Objective 1 on the capacities of SAfAIDS and partners was highly satisfactory, as capacity building of master trainers and facilitators was achieved. The CTRF4YP programme also resurrected the Men Engage Network, which now has 25 members from a target of 10 members. Objective 2 on the young people’s programme was achieved satisfactorily, with most targets reached including those on HIV knowledge, identification of inequitable gender norms, HIV linkages with inequitable gender norms, and number of school-based clubs (Y4GT). The programme recorded success and had great impact in reducing dropouts, risky sexual behaviours, teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, violence, school absenteeism and negative disciplinary issues. There has also been transformation of policies in-schools, as boys and girls are now being treated equally in performing school chores (general cleanliness) and other issues in the school. However, challenges were noted with limited training and resource materials. There was limited time to do sessions due to competing regular timetables at the school, which resulted in CTRF4YP lessons being held at odd times including after school, at lunchtime, on weekends and during school holidays. This was the teachers’ and students’ initiative as they felt the need to sustain the benefits from this programme.
The parent and community leadership programme (under objective 3) was also satisfactorily effective. Main achievements included the formation of fatherhood clubs and community dialogue sessions. Targets on identification of inequitable gender norms, HIV linkages and comprehensive knowledge on HIV and SRHR were either achieved or narrowly missed. The target for reaching parent/ guardians with gender transformation through community dialogues was surpassed, reaching 591 from the target of 300. However, the CTRF4YP programme fell short of its target to reach 300 community leaders and managed to reach only 125 leaders. The programme, however, recorded impact especially around the fatherhood clubs. Fathers in the community now accompany their wives to antenatal, delivery and postnatal services at the clinic or hospital. Men have also started helping with household chores at home. The communities have also witnessed a sharp decline in domestic violence, child pledging to appease spirits and harmful practices linked with manhood and womanhood initiation ceremonies.
However, the programme faced resistance by communities and its leaders at inception. The resistance was due to the programme appearing to compromise their deep-seeded culture. Later on, the community leaders were leading most actions and people began to warm up to the programme. The CTRF4YP could have benefited more people with more facilitators, decentralised centres (to reduce travelling distances), consistency in providing refreshments during activities and prorgamme visibility items. Objective 4 on policy advocacy was rated as highly satisfactory. It included holding a national level sensitisation meeting, and contribution to the Adolescent and Sexual Reproductive Health policy report (2016-2020) which were all done. Objective 5 on evidence generation was also highly satisfactory; the programme held a symposium at Rainbow Towers that attracted 140 delegates.
The programme also led to the conducting of five surveys including; a Baseline Assessment of the CRTF4YP programme, an IMAGES Special Study, two Sentinel Site Surveys and an end line assessment. The target of 2,000 information products was overshot with 17,000 in the first year and 4,450 in the second year. Effectiveness of partnerships was highly satisfactory due to the diversity of skills sets and presence of local partners at district level. The partnthe erships also included good collaboration with key stakeholders and service providers, as the programme worked with Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Ministry of Health, Victim Friendly Units (VFUs), local clinics, hospitals and social welfare services. The programme also made inroads through working with community leaders and the communities, as they drove the programme at community level, the programme being related to cultural issues and community leaders being key custodians for culture. Effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation was also satisfactory due to the skills among partners, user friendly tools and systems that enabled adequate and regular reporting. However, there was divided attention among partners due to the demand of other competing programming work.
Efficiency: The programme was efficient as there was demonstrable optimum use of resources for achievement of results. The programme could not have been delivered with fewer resources. More resources could have been used to cover gaps at community level to include roll out of visibility items, consistency in providing refreshments and logistical support to mobilise community members. There was also a conscious effort to create strong systems to plan (budgets), acquit, disburse in time, offer checks and balances, reduce variances and financial leakages and for reporting and auditing.
Sustainability was moderately likely, with strong buy-in of relevant structures at national, sub-national and community levels. Community ownership and buy-in meetings were hosted with local government authorities and traditional and religious leadership during the CTR4YP design and this continued afterwards. There was also active participation of programme beneficiaries. The location of implementing partners suggests the possibility of them continuing to assist with CTRF4YP programme activities as they continue their other programmes/ activities. The programme alignment to the new curriculum also means that it could still have space and more time in future. However, the backdrop is that the number of facilitators trained in the programme is limited and this can affect the spread of the programme to cover the vast communities.
Key Recommendations
- Consider scaling up the CTRF4YP model to more communities to saturate current intervention districts, additional districts and even beyond Zimbabwe.
- Similar future interventions should consider increasing the number of community gender transformation facilitators both for in-school and community to ensure thatknowledge and skills are cascaded to a larger proportion of the community. This will also improve the popularity of the programme at community level.
- The in-school programme should have more teacher facilitators at each school, including the Guidance and Counselling (G&C) teacher to take advantage of the new curriculum which includes G&C as a subject. The programme should ensure that the District Education Officers (DEOs) and school heads are more actively involved to ease the development of CTRF4YP inclusive calendars.
- The holiday camps were beneficial and could be increased in both the number of sessions and participants. The programme could even decentralise holiday camps to district level and have smaller numbers of selected participants for a national level camp preferably at Outward bound in Chimanimani.
- The CTRF4YP programme should hold trainings at decentralised points in order to limit the distances that participants need to travel to reach their centre.
- The design of the programme could be improved by adding income generating activities (IGAs) or other material support to encourage more participants and make the programme participation more appealing to the community they serve.
- Partners should consider making efforts to improve visibility and recognition in the community by providing more visibility items (T-shirts and caps) and IEC material.
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PREVENTION+ Final Narrative report and Annual Report 2020
Prevention+ is a five-year programme (2016-2020) that addresses inequalities between women and men by working with men – as partners with women – to be agents of change in promoting healthy masculinities based on equality, caregiving, and non-violence. Prevention+ is implemented in Indonesia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, and in a selection of MENA countries. The Prevention+ Consortium includes Rutgers, Promundo and Sonke, with MenEngage Global as a technical partner. The programme is carried out in collaboration with the partners within the respective countries. The focus is on reducing violence against women as well as improving the economic participation and self- reliance of women by working closely with them and young men. The programme emphasises the participation of women in politics and public administration at the individual, community, institutional and government level. The programme strategy aims to scale up evidence-based gender-based violence (GBV) prevention programmes (with young men) in strategic partnerships with communities, public institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) to achieve positive and equal gender norms and to reduce men’s use of GBV. The long-term objectives of the five-year Prevention+ programme is to contribute to a gender-just society, free of GBV, by transforming harmful social norms driving GBV at the level of the individual, community, and civil society and ensuring that these changes are firmly rooted in a supportive legal and policy framework. It is crucial for a new paradigm of gender equity to address both men and women in society through an approach that includes the individual and the societal level, rather than a constant framing of men as causing inequality and women as survivors of this inequality.
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Final Evaluation of the Prevention+ programme (2016- 2020)
Prevention+ seeks to address issues of gender and inequality through interventions targeted towards men – as partners of women and agents of change. It comprises evidence-based programming at a large (multi-country) scale, working across four socio-ecological levels (individual, community, institutional and government levels) in order to contribute to the sustainable transformation of norms and practices at all levels of society. In doing so, the programme works toward a gender just society, reducing gender-based violence (GBV) and improving women’s self-reliance and economic, social and political participation.
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Emerging effects of COVID-19 pandemic on gender-based violence in Africa
The emergence of Covid-19 has significantly contributed to the increase in gender-based violence in many societies. This study investigates the trends of this violence in Cameroon, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected individuals and communities in a variety of ways. Within a couple of months, the virus had infected millions of people across the world in high, middle and low-income countries. The Director General of the World Health Organization announced the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), a global pandemic on 11 March 2020 (WHO 2020). In an effort to control the spread of the virus, governments around the world and in Africa put in place lockdown measures that have restricted movement, with citizens being advised to stay at home and observe social distancing. The pandemic and the related lockdown measures worsened vulnerabilities for GBV, which had various impacts which were exacerbated in contexts with weak health systems, weak rule of law, existing high levels of violence against women and girls (VAWG), and gender inequality.
As the situation unfolded, anecdotal evidence indicated towards an increase in GBV in developed countries. As the virus spread and as governments across the continent implemented the restrictive measures designed to control the spread, there was little evidence especially within the African context regarding the effects of the pandemic and the various measures on gender-based violence (GBV). Generating evidence around the impact of the pandemic in Africa would provide data that could be utilized to develop programs to respond to GBV during the pandemic period by reducing risks of GBV through prevention and mitigation strategies. The research findings would also be important in strengthening national and community-based response systems to prevent and mitigate GBV while enabling survivors to access care and support, amidst and post the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific focus was given to selected African countries of the South, East, West and Central African countries. These countries were:: SA, Cameroon, DRC and Kenya. These countries were selected because they had experienced a heavy burden of the pandemic in Africa, and had varying lock down measures implemented which was deemed able to provide good comparisons.
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Engaging South African fathers with programme interventions and policies
Families, parents and caregivers play a vital role in child well-being and development. The family, for example, plays the primary socialisation role in establishing a child’s identity. It is the family that also provides children with love, care, provision and protection. Having said this, while families can be the greatest source of support for children; they may also be a source of harm. This holds particularly true for South Africa, where violence against children remains alarmingly high and children continue to experience corporal punishment and emotional abuse in their own homes by parents or other caregivers. Fathers are an often misunderstood element within this context of South African families, yet fatherhood is an important entry point towards improving children’s lives. This paper delivered at the 2019 African Child Trauma conference was written by Wessel van den Berg from Sonke and Gloria Khoza from UNICEF SA to describe interventions and policies to support gender equal and non violent fatherhood in South Africa. The paper draws significantly on this programme brief on the same topic produced by Sonke Gender Justice with support from UNICEF SA.
Read the full 2019 conference publication.
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Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Violence
Exposure to violence in childhood can have severe physical, emotional, and mental health consequences and is intimately linked with the likelihood of perpetrating or experiencing intimate partner violence in adulthood. This process whereby violence in childhood is linked to violence in adulthood can be disrupted if children and adolescents are provided with quality, targeted interventions that meet their psychological and social support needs. In this new literature review commissioned by Promundo, the authors discuss psychosocial interventions that show promise in disrupting cycles of violence across many settings in high- and low-income countries, in individual and group/community settings, and by formally-trained professionals as well as community-trained facilitators.
