Sonke Gender Justice

Publication Type: Reports

  • The Policing Of Sex Work In South Africa

    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 of Police Officers. Police corruption and violence is recognised as a problem in many areas of South Africa, but sex workers are particularly vulnerable to the violation of their legal, labour, and human rights by police, with little access to redress.

    See the 2-page Research Brief here.

  • Research Brief: The Policing Of Sex Work In South Africa

    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

    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

    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)

    These core o erings are all founded on supporting the concepts, vocabulary and values for a gender transformed society. The purpose of all of the courses lies in the imperative to build gender justice, human rights and public health and the concern that this is impeded by poverty, limited access to educational and economic opportunities, unjust laws and insu cient accountability by governments. These drivers are embedded in patriarchal systems in which gender inequality and gender bias thrive. Male engagement in addressing women’s health and empowerment is therefore essential.

    Through continuous conceptual development these courses incorporate and convey cutting edge, progressive concepts and norms around gender equality, while rede ning masculinity and confronting the impacts of patriarchy on social and gender norms: “Domestic violence is tied to patriarchy.” (Key respondent interview).

    Training is rooted in the concepts of personal to societal transformation: “The representatives go through training highlighting a transformational approach on an individual level focusing on violence against women.” (Key respondent interview).

  • Increasing male engagement in the HIV response

    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 more likely to die of AIDS than their female counterparts. In Eastern and Southern Africa, 58% of new infections were among women; 67% of women living with HIV are on treatment, while only 51% of their male counterparts are on treatment. AIDS-related deaths declined more rapidly between 2010 and 2016 among girls and women (48%), as opposed to AIDS-related deaths among men and boys, which only declined by 29%. As a result, the majority (54%) of all adult AIDS-related deaths were among men.

  • Addressing the health needs of men and boys

    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 should not be seen as a definitive review of all possible national policies that relate to health.

  • Addressing Gender, Mobility and HIV/AIDS

    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”).

  • Sex Worker & Policing – Human Rights Challenges

    Sex Worker & Policing – Human Rights Challenges

    This draft report produces a body of research recording the contemporary policing experiences of sex workers from a grass roots level.

    The final report will be available in October 2017.

  • CHANGE Evidence Brief

    CHANGE Evidence Brief

    Violence against women is a leading cause of illness and death and occurs in the lives of one third of women globally. Prevalence of violence against women in South Africa is alarmingly high, with 32% of men reporting violence towards partners, and 28% having ever raped. We know that certain beliefs about manhood contribute to men’s use of violence. Research suggests that men who equate manhood with toughness, aggression, power over women, heavy alcohol, and many sexual partners are more likely to use violence.

  • Policy Support for Engaging Men in Positive Parenting in Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe

    Policy Support for Engaging Men in Positive Parenting in Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe

    Positive parenting can change circumstances dramatically for children, especially when mothers and fathers are fully engaged. In this report we define positive parenting as a non violent and proactive approach to parenting that promotes gender equality between parents. However, positive parenting programmes and policies in Eastern and Southern Africa are mostly undeveloped or inadequate.

    Although all five countries considered in this review (Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe) have policies that address parenting to a certain extent, none of them has a policy or framework that focuses specifically on positive parenting. While South Africa has an enabling policy framework with action plans for parenting and families that touches on gender, women’s empowerment and the prevention of violence against women and girls, even the White Paper on Families is silent on positive parenting. Ethiopia has a wide array of relevant issues embedded across its policies, but this is lacking in Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

  • Talking Man-to-Man

    Talking Man-to-Man

    Brothers for Life (B4L) is a multi-faceted campaign targeting men over the age of 30 years and younger men to impact on speci c areas of knowledge and practices in HIV prevention. With the largest community mobilisation component of any initiative yet undertaken by the USAID/JHU HIV Communication Programme in South Africa, Brothers for Life aspires to be a social movement rather than a “mere” campaign.

    B4L was launched in August 2009 and was still active in October 2012 when this document was written. JHHESA developed and managed B4L as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU-CCP) HIV Communication Programme in South Africa.

  • Womenability Khayelitsha

    Womenability Khayelitsha

    On Saturday 17 September 2016, Sonke together with Womenability, a Paris-based collective dedicated to the promotion of gender equality in cities around the world, and Social Justice Coalition conducted an exploratory walk in Khayelitsha to raise awareness around issues of gender-based violence as well as the lack of sanitation and other basic services.

    Together with forty residents of Khayelitsha, we conducted a two hour walk, which stopped at four designated points along the route, to discuss issues affecting women in the informal settlement and fill in questionnaires. Included in the stopping points was the area in which 19 year-old Sinoxolo Mafevuka was brutally raped and murdered in 2016. Mafevuka’s naked body was found in a communal toilet about 200m from her home in SST block on 2 March 2016.

    The goal of the walk was to propose community-driven solutions to improve public space for women in Khayelitsha.

    These are the findings.

  • Public transport and the safety of women in South Africa

    Public transport and the safety of women in South Africa

    The development of transport infrastructure and services typically do not to take gender roles and needs into account and the lack of transport infrastructure that does not take women’s needs into consideration around safety, creates negative impacts on women’s income and safety. Women are at greater risk of violence, sexual harassment, and sexual assault on public transport, thus making safety a major concern for women when making a choice on public transportation options. This often has an effect on women’s willingness to travel and thus leading to their economic detriment.

  • Progress towards prohibiting all corporal punishment of children in East and Southern Africa

    Progress towards prohibiting all corporal punishment of children in East and Southern Africa

    This briefing highlights the human rights imperative to prohibit all violent punishment of children in all East and Southern African states. It summarises progress so far towards prohibition in each state and what remains to be done. Aiming to promote national action for prohibition, it emphasises the many immediate opportunities for working to fulfil children’s right to protection in law from all corporal punishment in all settings. Many East and Southern African states are currently reforming legislation related to children and families, creating key opportunities to prohibit corporal punishment. The adoption of commitments to end all violence against children, including specifically corporal punishment, in Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040 and the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, provide additional and immediate contexts for focussing attention on fulfilling this most fundamental obligation under human rights law.

  • Lack of gender transformation in the judiciary

    Lack of gender transformation in the judiciary

    The slow pace of gender transformation of the judiciary cannot be evaluated in isolation. The discussion must be placed within the larger South African context in which transformation (in its broadest sense) remains a difficult and contested issue. Considering the causes of the slow pace of gender transformation of the bench and reflecting on possible ways to speed up such transformation requires a holistic approach.

  • Findings from The Sonke CHANGE Trial

    Findings from The Sonke CHANGE Trial

    Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a leading cause of illness and death among one-third of women globally. Prevalence of VAWG is alarmingly high. Large studies among South African men found that 32% used violence towards partners, and 28% of men have ever raped.

    We know that some beliefs about manhood contribute to men’s harmful health behaviors, including their use of violence. Research suggests that men who equate manhood with toughness, aggression, power over women, heavy use of alcohol, and the pursuit of many sexual partners are more likely to use violence.

  • Baseline Assessment Results for Changing the River’s Flow for Young People

    Baseline Assessment Results for Changing the River’s Flow for Young People

    SAfAIDS in partnership with Sonke Gender Justice will be implementing a 2 year gender-transformative program that seeks to transform gender roles and promote more gender-equitable relationships between young men and young women to reduce HIV, GBV and promote positive SRHR entitled “Changing the River’s Flow – A gender Transformative Program for Young People (CTRF 4 YP)” within, hard to reach areas like farms and mining communities in Zimbabwe. The project targets hard to reach areas, within the farming and mining communities, of Nyanga, Hwange, Chiredzi and Seke. SAfAIDS commissioned Primson Management Services as external consultants to provide services by conducting a baseline survey. The baseline survey aimed to benchmark and set indicators for the implementation of the different components of the CTRF 4 YP programme.

  • MenCare+ South Africa Outcome Measurement Report

    MenCare+ South Africa Outcome Measurement Report

    This Outcome Measurement Report has been compiled by the Foundation for Professional Development’s Programme Evaluation Unit in response to a request by Sonke Gender Justice and Mosaic Training, Service & Healing Centre for Women (MOSAIC) to conduct the End Term Evaluation of the MenCare+ South Africa Programme.

    The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the efficacy and impact of the MenCare+ programme in South Africa and the results will be used to determine future programme implementation and funding. Data was collected using a mixed methods approach. A review of the literature regarding gender equality, masculinity and fatherhood in South Africa was conducted to provide background and context to the evaluation. A comprehensive programme document review was conducted to provide the background of the programme, what research had already been conducted on the MenCare+ South Africa programme, and to provide an overview of the advocacy efforts of Sonke and MOSAIC. The quantitative data had already been collected by Sonke Gender Justice and MOSAIC using questionnaires (pre and post MenCare+ sessions) and the evaluation team conducted the analysis of the data. The qualitative data was collected using two methods. Firstly, Focus Group Discussions were conducted with 54 MenCare+ programme beneficiaries sampled from the 713 participants in the SRHR groups and 1550 participants in the Parenting groups. Secondly, telephonic interviews were conducted with 35 interviewees including programme stakeholders, programme staff, healthcare workers and social workers.

  • Policy Scans on HIV and SRH

    Policy Scans on HIV and SRH

    Results of Sonke Policy Scans find that very few NSPs engage with men. Most NSPs do acknowledge the importance of gender within HIV work, but very few expand this to include work with men.

    NSPs are more likely to mention men in relation to PMTCT and Medical Male Circumcision, but men are hardly ever mentioned in terms of trying to affect their attitudes towards condom use; getting them involved in home-based care; and targeting them to increase their uptake of testing and treatment services.

    Mention the very limited conception of gender as women evident in almost all the NSPs and that we reviewed and make the claim that this represents 1) a conflation between the terms gender and women 2) it doesn’t serve women well if NSPs don’t engage men as potential partners in women’s health and wellbeing.

  • SANAC Men’s Sector National Strategic Plan Implementation Audit Report

    SANAC Men’s Sector National Strategic Plan Implementation Audit Report

    As the convenor of the Men’s Sector, in September 2011 Sonke hosted a summit to prepare the Men’s Sector’s submission for the development of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2012-2016. As a result, the final NSP 2012/2016 document includes men’s involvement in HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment as a key priority area.

    The overall purpose of this implementation audit is to monitor the progress and impact of interventions and programmes provided by implementing agencies, both government and the civil society, towards achieving the NSP Men’s Sector goals. Specifically the audit assesses the extent to which and how the NSP was implemented at the district level towards the goal of improving men’s attitudes and behaviours related to HIV treatment adherence as well as men’s health issues in general.

  • Sexuality, Poverty and Law

    Sexuality, Poverty and Law

    Religious doctrine shapes and informs decision-making at the individual and collective levels, and sexuality and gender rights advocates must therefore work with faith-based organisations and religious activists to challenge harmful and discriminatory sexuality and gender norms and practices.

    The Religion, Gender and Sexuality workshop provided a space for faith leaders and those engaging with faith institutions to discuss successes, challenges and learning around sexual diversity and gender justice. In sharing their knowledge and experience, and through a range of facilitated discussions on the themes discussed in this report, the participants were able to collectively build on their knowledge, skills and awareness linked to gender and sexuality.

    Given the rise of religious activism in civil society, the political arena and in law- and policymaking, it has become imperative to offer training to organisations and individuals who work in the religious/faith-based sector on issues of gender and human rights-based approaches.

    With the support of Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the University of Witwatersrand’s Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS) the workshop sought to provide members of faith communities across Africa with the knowledge to advocate for sexuality and gender equality and human rights.

    The workshop was hosted by: Sonke Gender Justice, MenEngage Africa, Institute of Development Studies and Wits Centre for Diversity Studies.

  • Gender Transformation of the Judiciary Project 2013–2014

    Gender Transformation of the Judiciary Project 2013–2014

    The Democratic Rights and Governance Unit (DRGU) of the University of Cape Town, together with Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) hosted a series of legal sector meetings on gender transformation of the judiciary between 2013 and 2014. Four meetings were hosted in the Western Cape (25 February 2013), Gauteng (9 November 2013), the Eastern Cape (29 March 2014) and KwaZulu-Natal (6 December 2014) with the first of these meetings being held at the University of Cape Town.

    The purpose and objectives of these meetings were to:

    • Create discussion amongst legal professionals
    • Gain insight into some of the barriers that hinder gender transformation in the judiciary
    • Understand the reasons and impact of these barriers.

    The meetings also aimed to obtain input from legal professionals on how to strengthen the existing strategies for change that have been employed to bring about more progressive gender transformation of the judiciary.

  • Situation des pères en Afrique

    Situation des pères en Afrique

    Comme pour toute jeune fille, mon père a eu une grande influence dans ma vie. Avec ma mère, il m’a inculqué le sens de la responsabilité sociale, de la justice sociale et m’a donné la ferme conviction que chaque personne a de la valeur. Comme lui, je suis devenue enseignante et, à partir de là, je suis entrée dans le service civique et communautaire. C’est avec le soutien de mon père que j’ai eu le courage d’entrer en politique et de travailler avec les autres pour mettre fin à l’apartheid, promouvoir la justice sociale et plaider pour l’égalité des droits pour tous.

    Je sais donc par expérience que les pères peuvent jouer un rôle essentiel dans l’autonomisation des femmes et dans la promotion de l’égalité des sexes. Ce n’est pas uniquement parce que la plupart des hommes veulent voir leurs filles grandir dans un monde qui leur offre les mêmes chances qu’à leurs fils, c’est aussi parce que les pères qui ont des attitudes plus soucieuses d’équité entre les sexes sont plus susceptibles de transmettre ces valeurs à leurs enfants, leurs familles et leurs communautés. La promotion de l’égalité des sexes dans le ménage, en particulier concernant le rôle parental, est une étape clé pour établir les bases de l’égalité des sexes dans la société de manière plus générale.

    Le rapport sur la Situation des pères dans le monde confirme ce fait important par des données et des exemples qui couvrent tous les continents et toutes les couches socioéconomiques. Le rapport comble une lacune très importante en examinant le rôle des hommes dans la prise en charge des soins et les travaux ménagers. Il plaide fortement pour la nécessité du changement dans nos sociétés, les services publics et dans nos attitudes face à la paternité et à l’éducation des enfants.

    La réalisation de l’égalité des sexes passe par une reconfiguration des rapports de force. Cela inclut notamment de redéfinir nos perceptions profondément enracinées de la masculinité et de la paternité. Les pères peuvent aider à briser le cycle de la violence et de la discrimination envers les femmes en proposant des modèles de comportements non violents et en inculquant des valeurs d’égalité, de respect de la diversité, d’empathie et des droits humains pour la prochaine génération. Ils peuvent agir en toute confiance comme pourvoyeurs de soins, tant aux enfants qu’aux personnes âgées, et peuvent fournir un investissement égal dans les tâches ménagères et les besoins du ménage.

    Lorsque les hommes assument plus de responsabilités en matière de soins, cela permet aux femmes de trouver un travail rémunéré hors de la maison, d’améliorer leur santé et leur éducation, et d’assumer des rôles de leader. C’est une bonne chose pour tout le monde : les femmes et les filles, les hommes et les garçons. L’égalité des sexes renforce aussi les communautés grâce à de meilleurs résultats d’éducation, une meilleure santé et une plus grande prospérité économique pour les familles et les sociétés.

  • Faith and Sexual Pleasure

    Faith and Sexual Pleasure

    This report is based on a ground breaking workshop conceptualized by Sonke Gender Justice in partnership with the South African Council of Churches Youth Forum that brought together Muslim Scholars, Christian Youth Pastors, practitioners of African Traditional Religion and traditional healers from across the country to speak about their own sexual pleasure with a view to discussing what influence their individual politics of sexual pleasure has on their leadership within communities of faith.