Migration and health in Southern Africa
This report captures a two-day programme of presentations, panel discussions and group discussions at the regional symposium on gender, migration, health and public policy. The aim of day one was to discuss a number of migration-related topics including: health and universal health care (UHC) in Southern Africa, researching migration and health, associated ethical and methodological […]
“They treated me as if I was nothing”
This report analyses the gendered impact of the closure of, and decisions to close, Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) in South Africa, with an emphasis on the impacts experienced by women, children, and LGBTIQ+ identifying asylum seekers living in and around Cape Town. The impact analysis is based on a literature and media review plus in-depth […]
Gender, Migration, and Health in SADC
This report explores policy responses to migration, health and gender – with a focus on women and girls – in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). As a region associated with high levels of population mobility, a high communicable and non-communicable disease burden, poor maternal and child health outcomes, pervasive gender inequity, and struggling public […]
Engaging South African fathers
This programme brief provides a review of programmes that promote or facilitate the involvement of fathers and father figures in their children’s lives. It provides an overview of parenting programmes across the world and the results of the MenCare South Africa Childcare and Protection Programme’s evaluation, and finally makes recommendations for policies and programmes to […]
Stakeholder Dialogue: Refugee Reception Office Litigation and Advocacy Strategies
In April 2019, activists and civil society organisations held a stakeholder dialogue in Cape Town to discuss problems facing refugees in South Africa. The last eight years have seen the Department of Home Affairs shutting down Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng, leaving refugees with fewer options, and needing […]
Final report on the official launching of MenEngage Network Mali
The Mali network of MenEngage Africa Alliance was officially launched at a workshop chaired by Mali’s Permanent Secretary of the National Gender Policy, Tounkara Sophie Souko on the 11th and 12th of July 2019. The workshop was realised thanks to the joint efforts of the government of Mali and the Secretariat of MenEngage Mali – […]
State of the World’s Fathers 2019 – Executive Summary
This report has a big ambition: we are calling for nothing less than full equality between women and men, in the workplace and in the home. The third State of the World’s Fathers is rooted firmly in a feminist analysis of care, and the belief that unpaid care work must be valued as much as […]
State of the World’s Fathers 2019
This report has a big ambition: we are calling for nothing less than full equality between women and men, in the workplace and in the home. The third State of the World’s Fathers is rooted firmly in a feminist analysis of care, and the belief that unpaid care work must be valued as much as […]
A Gender and Migration Analysis of 2019 Election Manifestos
Sonke Gender Justice has compiled a short analysis of the manifestos of nine political parties contesting the 2019 National Elections. The analysis addresses traditional gender issues such as female representation, gender equality, and issues relating to LGBTIQA and sexual and reproductive health – while sex work, as well as migration, were included to broaden the […]
Best Practices Research Report
Consistent and effective prison oversight is a crucial means to ensure the protection and promotion of prisoners’ human rights. Not only does regular monitoring, inspecting and reporting serve to prevent human rights abuses of prisoners, it also ensures transparency and increases the accountability of the government department responsible for overseeing the prisons system. Prison oversight […]
Public Transport and Safety Symposium
Marike Keller, Policy Development and Advocacy Specialist at Sonke Gender Justice, welcomed the participants and provided an overview of the necessity for a symposium bringing stakeholders from the transport and human rights sectors together. Public transport is an essential part of everyday life for many South Africans. According to a 2013 National Household Travel Survey, […]
MenEngage on the spot
What does MenEngage Alliance need to do better? What does MenEngage Alliance have to do that it has not done yet? What does MenEngage Alliance need to stop doing? Those were some of the questions we put to women’s rights organizations from around the world as part of our Accountability Dialogue session in New York […]
International Women’s Day Event: “Water and Women”
On 8 March 2018, Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) hosted a panel discussion and community dialogue to explore the relationship between gender and water in the context of Cape Town’s water crisis. The focus was placed on the gendered burden of care, specifically in relation to access to water, including the potential impact of “Day Zero” […]
State of South Africa’s Fathers 2018
There is no typical father in South Africa. There are many types of fathers and many types of fatherhood in the country. There are biological fathers, social fathers, gay fathers, straight fathers, young fathers, older fathers. We have self-identified fatherhood, ascribed fatherhood, long-distance fatherhood and proximal fatherhood, to name only a few. The texture is […]
Criminal Justice Symposium Report
On 22 June 2018, Sonke Gender Justice hosted a criminal justice symposium, with a focus on bail and sentencing. The purpose for the symposium stemmed from the recognition that the current model and understanding of both bail and sentencing have had considerably negative effects on remand detainees and incarcerated persons. These include: overcrowding, disease, lack […]
Sonke Gender Justice: Reviewing Achievement against Results
In 2017 Sonke Gender Justice sought to review and offer an account of its contribution, over the last ten years, towards reaching gender equality, reducing gender-based violence, and addressing HIV and AIDS in South Africa and at regional and global levels. In reflecting on its practice it has sought to understand both its successes and […]
The Positive Policing Partnership
Marginalised and stigmatised groups in society such as migrants, sex workers, homeless people and drug users are at particular risk of human rights violations during policing and security operations because of skewed power relations. Sex worker rights and health organisations receive a high volume of complaints from sex workers regarding their experiences of human rights […]
The Policing Of Sex Work In South Africa
Within a context where gender-based violence (GBV) is endemic, sex workers in South Africa experience particular vulnerabilities to systematic violence, abuse, extortion, rape, and even torture. The criminalisation of sex work in South Africa enables an environment where sex workers are subject to numerous human rights violations, including discrimination, harassment, and abuse at the hands […]
Research Brief: The Policing Of Sex Work In South Africa
Marginalised and stigmatised groups in society such as migrants, sex workers, homeless people and drug-users are at particular risk of human rights violations during policing and security operations. Sonke Gender Justice and SWEAT (Sex Worker Education & Advocacy Taskforce) commissioned research into police practices following high volumes of sex worker complaints.
Rights, Action and Accountability
Founded in 2006 in South Africa, Sonke Gender Justice has been advancing gender justice for more than ten years. This timeline, charts the highlights of our work over the last decade.
A Report on Training Programmes Provided by Sonke Gender Justice and Partners
This evaluation focuses on three core training and education courses provided by Sonke Gender Justice (hereafter Sonke) together with its partners: Women’s Health and Empowerment – MenEngage Africa Training Initiative (MATI) The University of Pretoria / Sonke Advanced Human Rights Course (UP) University of California Los Angeles School of Law and Sonke Fellowship Programme (UCLA) […]
Increasing male engagement in the HIV response
It is now well understood that gender norms, as they affect both women and men, underpin the HIV epidemic and need to be addressed urgently. Women are much more vulnerable to HIV infection; men are much less likely to get tested for HIV, less likely to access and adhere to treatment, and are thus disproportionately […]
Addressing the health needs of men and boys
This document provides an overview of national policies with respect to men’s health in order to support national level discussions of how to improve health services. This document can be used as part of a literature review or policy or guideline development process. Please note that the findings have been presented in summary form and […]
Addressing Gender, Mobility and HIV/AIDS
This report describes Sonke Gender Justice Project’s (“Sonke”) recommendations for addressing the nexus of gender, mobility and HIV/AIDS issues within the second phase of the Partnership on HIV and Mobility in Southern Africa (“PHAMSA II”).
