Sonke Gender Justice

Category: Uncategorized

  • Community Health Clinic Model for Agency in Relationships and Safer Microbicide Adherence (CHARISMA)

    Community Health Clinic Model for Agency in Relationships and Safer Microbicide Adherence (CHARISMA)

    This project is aimed at increasing women’s agency to consistently and safely use microbicides and mitigate intimate partner violence (IPV) through three specific aims:

    • To identify improved approaches to measure and address the beneficial impacts and harmful social effects, particularly IPV, of microbicide use.
    • To develop and pilot test the Community Health clinic model for Agency in Relationships and Safer Microbicide Adherence (CHARISMA) intervention, which has clinic and community-based components.
    • To disseminate knowledge generated and promote uptake of promising practices for future microbicide and multipurpose prevention technology implementation projects.

    Thus, in the next five years, as microbicides move from proof of concept to delivery, an important opportunity exists to intervene to minimise the harmful influences of male partners and harness their beneficial influences constructively, thereby serving to tip the balance of the continuum of male partner involvement in microbicide use toward the positive. In the proposed project, we aim to develop and test an intervention using new measurement tools and strategies, informed by our secondary analysis and new data from women participating in microbicide studies, to optimise male partner influence and preserve women’s agency to safely and consistently use microbicides.

  • Faith and Traditional Sector

    Faith and Traditional Sector

    Through engaging with faith-based communities, organised religion and traditional leaders, the SSD portfolio seeks to support and strengthen leadership for gender transformation within these sectors. Sonke is a part of the We Will Speak Out (WWSO) coalition and works with various faith-based organisations throughout Africa, and organisations working within the faith sector, including TearFund and the South African Family and Faith Institute (SAFFI). Sonke also works with the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) initiative: “Men as Peacemakers”; with the UNFPA East and Southern Africa region to implement their framework on involving faith-based organisations in sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) campaigns; with the universities of KwaZulu-Natal and Witwatersrand to develop a training course on Gender, Culture and Religion; amongst other initiatives. Sonke’s faith and traditional sector work aims to advocate for gender equality and non-violence in the context of faith, religion and traditions and also to get key leaders in faith communities, and traditional leaders, to develop their own interventions in response to prevailing social norms that perpetuate gender injustices at local, national, regional and global levels.

    Targeting the faith-based community is particularly important for three key reasons important in addressing sexual violence:

    1. Sexual violence is widespread across South Africa and has a deeply traumatising and damaging effect on survivors. At the same time, more than 80% of South Africans report having an affiliation to a religion, religious institution, or to African traditional beliefs: http://www.citypress.co.za/multimedia/graphic-major-religious-affiliations-in-sa/
    2. Faith-based institutions have often failed survivors of sexual violence. They often deepen the impact of sexual violence through silence, stigma and discrimination. Some religious institutions have not done enough to care for the marginalised or to speak out on their behalves.
    3. Faith-based institutions are central to community life and have untapped potential to prevent and respond to sexual violence. This sector can provide care and support, stand alongside survivors seeking justice, identify and challenge harmful attitudes and beliefs within society that perpetuate sexual violence, and present new ideas that influence social norms and behaviours.
  • Silicosis and its Gendered Impact

    Silicosis and its Gendered Impact

    Sonke Gender Justice and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), represented by SECTION27, have applied to intervene in a landmark lawsuit as amici curiae – “friends of the court”. 56 applicants, representing tens of thousands of mineworkers, are seeking to hold 32 gold mining companies in South Africa (collectively comprising the entire gold mining industry in the country) accountable for failing to prevent and respond to silicosis in gold mines.

    Silicosis is a degenerative lung disease arising from exposure to and inhalation of silica dust during mining. It is irreversible, incurable and grows progressively worse, yet it is entirely preventable. As a latent disease, it often only appears decades after exposure to the dust, with symptoms including shortness of breath, coughing and chest pains. Those with silicosis are also more likely to develop tuberculosis (TB).

    Only 1.5% of mineworkers certified as eligible for compensation for occupational illness through the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act of 1973 (ODIMWA) actually receive the full compensation. ODWIMA however, provides significantly less compensation compared to other occupational disease and injury compensation schemes in South Africa.

    Sonke has applied to intervene and introduce evidence on the gendered impact of occupational lung disease in mine-sending communities. The responsibility for taking care of sick miners has been placed onto women living in poverty stricken rural mine-sending areas, where there is often no access to running water, and limited transportation to healthcare services. Hence, when mineworkers return home sick with silicosis and TB, it is usually women and children who take care of them – at considerable personal and financial expense.

    Caring for someone experiencing these illnesses can be full time work, and is provided on an unpaid basis. As the law currently stands, it is difficult for caregivers to receive just compensation, equal to the amount the deceased miners they cared for could receive through the courts, which in itself is already an insufficient amount. Through the court proceeding, Sonke wishes to address this and allow dependents of deceased mineworkers to receive adequate compensation for their work.

    The hearing to determine Sonke and TAC’s admittance as amici curiae has been postponed from April 2015 to July 2015. The certification of the class action lawsuit will be heard by the South Gauteng High Court in October 2015.

    Activists at Sonke and TAC’s amici curiae (friends of the court) application on the 24th and 25th of August 2015

  • Policy Development & Advocacy

    Policy Development & Advocacy

    South Africa has one of the world’s most progressive constitutions, which includes a justiciable Bill of Rights. However, our country is also home to some of the world’s highest rates of violence. Sexual violence, including domestic abuse, rape, assault and murder, are far too common. Similarly, there are a vast number of human rights violations daily against marginalised groups such as prisoners, sex workers and migrants, LGBTIQ people, women and children. What is particularly horrifying is that some of these cases are perpetrated by police law enforcement or community leaders.

    Violence in South Africa is systemic and normalised – and has to be challenged!

    What we do

    Sonke’s Policy Development and Advocacy (PDA) Unit consists of policy analysts, researchers and lawyers who base their practice in activism and disrupting the status quo. They – and Sonke – advocate for progressive legislation and policy on gender equality, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights (including HIV and AIDS) to empower and protect women, children and vulnerable men, and to cultivate positive masculinities. They offer technical expertise to national processes of drafting legislation and policies; use the courts and Chapter 9 institutions to hold public figures accountable for their actions; support communities to participate in public advocacy action; and lobby Government institutions to uphold the rights of all, but in particular marginalised groups.

  • SRHR and Religious Communities

    SRHR and Religious Communities

    Key highlights of our work on SRHR with religious leaders include:

    The International Strategy Meeting on “Advancing Women’s Rights and Gender Justice in the Face of Religious Fundamentalisms” in Istanbul, Turkey: Bafana Khumalo attended the above-mentioned meeting organised by the Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), in Istanbul in December 2013. The aim of the conference was to share experiences on the role of faith-based organizations (FBO’s) in an attempt to roll back gains made in gender transformation, especially in relation to SRHR and services.

    The UNFPA consultation in Turkey, in June 2015, on religion and the post-2015 process: Attended by Sonke co-founder and ordained Lutheran Minister, Bafana Khumalo, the consultation was meant to share perspectives on broader perspectives that impact on SRHR processes, in particular. Fifty participants from Europe, the Caribbean, South East Asia, Latin America, Africa, North America and the Middle East, representing Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities attended. The meeting adopted the following priorities for this work:

    • Gender Based Violence.
    • Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
    • Quality Health Service (Maternal, HIV and AIDS).
    • Peace and Religious tolerance (including LGBTI issues). 

    The Johannesburg SRHR consultation with religious leaders: On 7 February 2014, Sonke convened a meeting with religious leaders on SRHR in Johannesburg to explore the links between the faith-based sector and SRHR, and to begin to engage faith leaders in the global MenEngage SRHR campaign that Sonke co-coordinates with Promundo and the MenEngage Secretariat. The meeting gave an overview of Human Rights, SRHR and introduced the proposed concept of the global campaign on engaging men in SRHR. The meeting also sought to identify representatives of the faith-based sector to attend a regional consultation in Cape Town on 27 February 2014.

    Some notable statements from the meeting included:

    “If we don’t break the silence on issues of SRHR, gay rights and sex in general our biggest campaigning tool will remain that of burying our congregations” and “I want to understand where I, as a church leader, begin and end as a sexual being”. One minister challenged the religious justifications for discrimination against LGBTI communities by saying: “Where were our voices as church leaders when LGBTI people where being killed? People are people”.

  • Global SRHR Initiative

    Global SRHR Initiative

    With support from NORAD and other donors, MenEngage launched a global initiative in 2014 to address the following SRHR issues:

    • Engaging men in HIV prevention and care.
    • Men’s share of contraceptive use and access to SRH services.
    • Men’s support for women’s contraceptive use and access to SRH services, including women’s right to safe and legal abortion services.

    Engaging men in HIV prevention and care has been identified as a key theme on its own in order to highlight the specific goals around increasing men’s access to, and utilisation of, HIV testing and treatment services – for their own sake and for their partners.

  • Internal SRHR Working Group

    Internal SRHR Working Group

    Designed to establish a core group of advocates within Sonke to support SRHR transformative work, such as the provision of children’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education Master Training, the SRHR Working Group works to strengthen cross-unit collaborations and functions as a sounding board for the portfolio’s work. Since its inception, the SRHR Working Group has organised a series of internal capacity building trainings for staff, such as trainings on sexual pleasure, how to engage religious leaders on sexuality and health, a people-centred approach to reaching children with comprehensive sexuality education and gender integration in family planning conducted by USAID and Advancing Partners and Communities (APC).

    Internal capacity building around SRHR is a key area of this work, and while strategic plans and programmatic development are critical, foundational to these efforts is ensuring that Sonke staff have a strong grounding in SRHR that applies not just to their work or to the organisation, but to them as individuals, partners, and clients.

  • Men and HIV Project

    Men and HIV Project

    There is a growing realisation that men and boys are underrepresented in HIV services while being overrepresented amongst AIDS deaths and a key part of the cycle of new HIV infections, a cycle which needs to urgently be broken to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women. The global Fast-Track targets to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 will not be achieved unless men are better engaged in the HIV response.

    Changing ‘business as usual’ is therefore vital in order to reach men with HIV-related services while advancing gender transformative and responsive programmes. This is critical for men and boys health and for the sake of women, girls and health for all. If the HIV epidemic is to be successfully halted, urgent action is needed on two fronts. The first is challenging the harmful gender and social norms that discourage men from seeking health services and behaviours (such as violence and non-use of a condom) that increase the likelihood of HIV transmission to women and girls. Second is ensuring that health system policies, programmes, and service delivery adequately address the HIV-related needs of men in all their diversity. All interventions need to be coupled with broader approaches to realise gender equality – including women’s and girl’s empowerment and challenging structural patriarchal barriers.

    Sonke Gender Justice is working closely with UNAIDS, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the MenEngage Africa alliance to increase the focus on men as well as men’s participation in HIV response efforts. Together, we recently launched the Global Platform for Action on Men in the HIV Response at the 21st International AIDS Conference, which was held in Durban, South Africa, from 18th – 22nd July 2016. The policy outlines goals to improve men’s access to, and use of, HIV wellness services and through it we will be advocating for policies and programmes to transform harmful gender norms that increase women’s and men’s vulnerabilities to HIV and AIDS.

    The launch follows months of planning which began with a meeting between Sonke, MenEngage Africa partners and the leadership of the UNAIDS gender team at the 2015 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which resulted in a commitment to co-convene a global consultation on men and HIV services to address men’s low use of HIV services and the impact this has on men, women, children and public health systems.

    At a follow-up meeting in December 2015, in Geneva, organised by Sonke and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), this commitment was concretised. In parallel, Sonke staff held very promising discussions with the UNAIDS Regional Support Team (RST) for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), which focuses on 21 countries and they too have committed to rolling out a regional campaign to address men’s low use of HIV services. MenEngage Africa and its partners will focus on developing a shared campaign on increasing men’s utilisation of HIV services from testing to treatment and care. The benefits of men testing for HIV, starting and sustaining treatment include, but are not limited to, suppressed HIV viral load, reduced opportunistic infections, and lower HIV infections to their partners.

  • Gender Integration in Family Planning

    Gender Integration in Family Planning

    On behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH), Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) awarded a one-year grant to Sonke in 2013 to strengthen gender equality and reproductive justice in sub-Saharan Africa, with a specific focus on providing gender-integrated family planning technical assistance to USAID missions across the region. Given the success of the project, Sonke has now received an additional three-year grant to carry on working on the project. In the initial year of this project, Sonke was given technical assistance from APC on family planning and USAID gender and women’s empowerment policies to strengthen Sonke’s internal capacity to carry forth this work. Sonke then completed an organisational capacity assessment, site visit, and three-day technical assistance training for the Ethiopia USAID Mission, in partnership with APC.

    The goal of this project is to build Sonke’s capacity to provide gender integration training and technical assistance for family planning programming at the national and regional level, and particularly for USAID Missions and USAID-supported local implementing partners in sub-Saharan Africa. Recognising the complexity of family planning programming, and building on Sonke’s expertise in engaging men in reproductive health issues, Sonke will primarily offer technical assistance to constructively engage men in family planning programmes. This technical assistance will be offered with support from Advancing Partners and Communities (APC). Upon request from USAID Missions, Sonke will strengthen its ability to provide broader gender integration technical assistance for family planning to USAID Missions and local implementing partners, also with APC’s support. Direct capacity building to Sonke to increase their technical expertise in male engagement in family planning, as well as Sonke’s experiences providing gender-integrated technical assistance with APC, will help Sonke establish a reputation for gender trainings and technical assistance for family planning (FP) programming. Furthermore, Sonke will document the process of applying lessons learned from constructive male engagement in HIV and GBV prevention, to constructive male engagement in family planning – providing recommendations that can be used by the larger field.

    This project has been rated the highest priority of more than 90 global gender projects by USAID Washington’s Team. In partnership with USAID Advancing Partners and Communities Project, implemented by JSI and FHI360, Sonke provides technical assistance to US Missions and their implementing partners in Africa. Currently focused on Ethiopia, the technical assistance provision attempts to ensure that participants gain an understanding on how gender inequalities and norms affect the objectives and achievements of the Mission.

    Staff and partners are able to utilise various techniques for integrating gender, with an emphasis on positive male involvement, into programme planning, activity development and M&E, including designing gender-sensitive indicators and conducting gender specific analyses or assessments and to improve the participants’ skills to assess, record and report gender specific results.

  • Challenging xenophobia through keeping leaders accountable for inciting hate

    Challenging xenophobia through keeping leaders accountable for inciting hate

    On 20 March 2015, King Goodwill Zwelithini spoke at a “moral regeneration” event in Pongola, KwaZulu-Natal.  He commented on the presence of cross-border migrants in South Africa and noted: “We request that all foreigners should take their baggage and be sent back.”

    The sound track contains loud cheers from the audience. These remarks are widely attributed to have served as the catalyst for the xenophobic attacks that broke out in KwaZulu-Natal, and further spread to Gauteng. At least seven people were killed during these attacks, while thousands have been displaced.

    A two-minute extract of the King’s address was available at online news services.

    Sonke endeavoured to obtain the whole speech in order to hold the King accountable for his words, and it is made available here.

    Listen the to King’s full speech here:

    Find a transcript of the King’s speech in isiZulu here.

    Find a translation into English here.

  • Decriminalisation of Sex Work

    Decriminalisation of Sex Work

    Gender-based violence (GBV) is an injustice that affects women and girls worldwide, with South Africa recording some of the highest rates of sexual violence, globally. Violence against sex workers – female, transgender and male – is particularly pronounced, and research shows that a third to half of all sex workers experienced violence in their workplaces in the last year. A legal framework that criminalises sex work has been shown to greatly increase sex workers’ vulnerability to violence and illness, particularly HIV, while reducing the likelihood that abuse will be reported.

    South Africa criminalises all aspects of sex work, meaning that both the selling and buying of sex are illegal. Historically, sex workers have been among South Africa’s most marginalised populations, and are vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and ill health (in particular HIV and other STIs). The decriminalisation of sex work – the removal of the criminal law and the implementation of a rights-based approach to aspects of sex work – will not only make sex work and sex workers safer, but will also reduce levels of GBV and have a far-reaching impact on public health.

    With key partners such as the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) and the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement, Sonke is advocating for the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa by raising public awareness of the human rights violations suffered by sex workers under the outdated criminal legal framework. Media engagement and advocacy is utilised as a key advocacy tool.

    The project aims to:

    • Build the Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work in South Africa. This Coalition of organisations focuses narrowly on lobbying for rapid law reform on sex work, and targets the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development.
    • Challenge stereotypes about sex workers and sex worker clients, and generate positive, contextualised and evidence-based popular news articles on sex work, sex workers and sex worker clients by proactive engagement with the media.
    • Research and disseminate evidence-based popular-education guides on sex work, sex workers, and sex work clients.
    • Participate in the collection and dissemination of evidence of human rights violations against sex workers.
    • Engage the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and the National Department of Health on the successful implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment for Sex Workers.
    • Engage with relevant stakeholders, such as the police and Members of Parliament, in order to create sustainable partnerships and garner support for sex workers’ rights and protection.

    Reaching these aims will ultimately fulfil the overall goal of the project, which is to contribute to the progressive realisation of human rights for all by removing the criminal law from sex work, thereby bringing a particularly marginalised group into the human rights protections offered by the South African labour and occupational health and safety laws.

  • Asijiki Fact Sheets

    Asijiki Fact Sheets

    Sonke is a steering committee member of the Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work. The Coalition advocates for sex worker human rights and the urgent reform of laws on sex work in South Africa.

    The following fact sheets have been compiled that reflect contemporary debates on sex work and current evidence on sex work and the law. They show how the decriminalisation of sex work would reflect South Africa’s commitment to human rights, and to fulfilling public health goals.

  • Prisons Transformation – Policy Reform, Advocacy and Accountability

    Prisons Transformation – Policy Reform, Advocacy and Accountability

    The aims for the Prisons Transformation project are:

    • A decrease in the number of inmates who experience sexual abuse, and contract HIV and TB.
    • Prison conditions that align with domestic and international human rights instruments.
    • A government that is able to implement evidence-based good practices and is held accountable for preventing and eradicating sexual violence and HIV in prisons.
    • A galvanised civil society that works collectively to promote and protect inmates’ rights.
    • Strong, independent oversight and accountability mechanisms for the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).
    • The reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into society, with a focus on decreasing recidivism and preventing violence and the burden of disease.

    To achieve these aims, Sonke leverages multiple advocacy approaches including the following:

    • Advocacy for law and policy reform to prevent rights violations in DCS centres, with a particular focus on sexual abuse, HIV, TB, ill-treatment and torture of inmates.
    • Monitoring and, where necessary, legally intervening in specific cases of rights violations.
    • Training and technical support for the DCS on sexual violence and HIV prevention.
    • Applied research to build the evidence base for strategic advocacy to improve policies and practices for the prevention of sexual violence, HIV and TB, and other rights violations in detention settings.
    • Media advocacy to stimulate public discourse on health, sexual violence, and human rights in detention settings.
    • Civil society coalition building to mobilise stakeholders and hold government accountable for rights violations in prisons.
    • Advocacy for law reform to strengthen independent oversight and accountability mechanisms for DCS.
    • Engagement with and empowerment of formerly incarcerated individuals.

    Detention Justice Forum

    Sonke is a steering committee member of the Detention Justice Forum (DJF), a coalition of non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, lawyers, and academics, with a shared interest in ensuring that the rights of detainees are upheld. Members of the DJF engage in a diverse range of prison reform strategies, including: advocacy and stakeholder engagement, research, policy development, direct service provision, and (former and current) detainee support and empowerment.

    The DJF’s website can be found here: detentionjusticeforum.org.za

  • Public Transport and Gender-Based Violence

    Public Transport and Gender-Based Violence

    Public transport is an essential part of everyday life for many South Africans. According to a 2013 National Household Travel Survey, nearly 40% of workers used public transport as their main mode of travel to work – the total number of public transport trips per weekday to go to work is estimated at 5,4 million, with 68% of these being public transport trips made by taxi, 20% by bus, and 13% by train.

    Sexual harassment and assault on public transport is an international and national daily occurrence and the incidents involved may range from the relatively “mild” to the “very serious”. The main dangers women face in public transportation range from forms such as catcalling, unwanted attention, inappropriate physical contact, aggressive advances from strangers, and a range of other invasive sexualized behaviors. There have been widespread reports of women generally “being jeered at, physically assaulted and stripped of their clothes in public” throughout South Africa.

    In order to holistically address GBV in South Africa, there is a need to focus on public transport. Consequently, in 2016, Sonke, in partnership with SANTACO (South African National Taxi Association), launched the Safe Ride Campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to engage the South African taxi industry – associations, owners and drivers – as well as key government departments, in a campaign to promote respectful and non-violent behaviour towards customers, prevent sexual and gender-based violence and harassment – particularly any manifestations of sexual violence – and promote gender equality and safety of women and children within the taxi industry.

    Through our policy and advocacy work on public transport and GBV, Sonke aims to:

    • Conduct policy scans and analysis on current legislation and policies to clarify the roles and responsibilities of key government departments and Chapter 9 institutions in terms of ensuring the safety of women and girl commuters in the taxi industry.
    • Produce research and advocacy briefs on relevant laws and policies around the industry and key government responsibilities, to be used in awareness campaigns and for advocacy purposes, including submissions and presentations to parliament and various portfolio sub-committees.
    • Meet with law and policy makers and duty bearers.

    Bring together key government, community and CSO stakeholders to discuss policy gaps and implementation on women’s safety on public transport.

  • The UCLA Law – Sonke Health & Human Rights Fellowship

    The UCLA Law – Sonke Health & Human Rights Fellowship

    The UCLA/Sonke ‘Health & Human Rights Fellowship’ was initiated in 2011 as a partnership between University of California, Los Angeles and Sonke Gender Justice. It provides specialised training on the practice of public interest law, not currently available in South Africa, to emerging South African lawyers. It aims to fill a capacity shortage in South Africa of public interest lawyers with expertise in health, gender and human rights and to build the capacity of South African NGOs to conduct legal research and advocacy on human rights. Applications open in January of every year.

    Our Alumni and current Fellows:

    • 2012: Cherith Sanger & Nomonde Nyembe
    • 2013: Katy Hindle & Godfrey Kangaude
    • 2014: Shadrack Sekgame & Mateenah Hunter
    • 2015: Ariane Nevin & Portia Karegeya
    • 2016: Thabang Pooe
    • 2017: Nabeelah Mia & Nobukhosi Zulu
    • 2018: Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane & Ralph Madlalate
    • 2019: Ohene Ampofo-Anti & Nicole van Zyl

    Meet the Fellows

  • Stop the Traditional Courts Bill

    Stop the Traditional Courts Bill

    The Traditional Courts Bill is currently being considered by Parliament in order to provide updated legislation for traditional justice processes and institutions. The Bill will affect over 17 million South Africans. However, the Bill – and its previous iterations – has been the subject of much speculation and controversy.

    The Traditional Courts Bill was first introduced to the National Assembly on 9 April 2008. However, the Bill was withdrawn on 2 June 2011 due to widespread concerns that members of the public had not been adequately consulted in its drafting, and that it had unconstitutional content.

    Despite this opposition, the Bill was reintroduced in December 2011 and tabled before the National Council of Provinces in January 2012. The proposed Bill was blatantly unconstitutional and arguably violated the human rights of women and men in rural communities. As such, Sonke joined a large group of human rights organisations in a nation-wide campaign to stop the Bill. After the provinces conducted their consultations they too were largely persuaded that the bill would not pass constitutional muster. The Bill effectively lapsed. This was a victory for Sonke and our partner organisations.

    In March 2015, Justice Minister Michael Masutha stated that he intended to table a revised version of the Bill in November 2015, after consultations with all stakeholders. In January 2017, a final revised version of the Bill was introduced into Parliament: the Traditional Courts Bill 1 of 2017.

    Sonke made a submission on the Bill to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services in March 2017, which recognised that many of the issues with the 2012 version of the Bill had seemingly been rectified (especially concerning the participation of women in the traditional justice process), though there remained several issues with the new Bill.

    Sonke will continue to engage in the parliamentary process with regards to the 2017 Bill.

  • Transformation of the Judiciary

    Transformation of the Judiciary

    In 2012, Sonke and the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, UCT (DGRU) submitted a complaint to the Commission on Gender Equality on the lack of gender transformation of the judiciary. The CGE released an Investigative report in 2016.

    In July 2018, the Commission gazetted its recommendations and is available here (see page 80 onwards). Importantly, the Commission recommends a National Summit as next steps.

  • Commission for Gender Equality Monitoring Project

    Commission for Gender Equality Monitoring Project

    The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) Monitor initiative was established to ensure that the Commission for Gender Equality delivers on its mandate to advance gender transformation in South Africa. The CGE monitor was established because of long-standing concerns amongst human rights organisations about the CGE’s limited delivery on its mandate. The organisations who make up the CGE monitor are committed to the existence of a strong, pro-active and successful CGE.

    Organisations comprising the CGE Monitor

    The CGE Monitor is made up of women’s rights, gender equality and human rights organisations from across the country all involved in promoting gender equality and advancing the needs and rights of women some involved in advocacy and others representing or providing services to different groups or categories of women such as women with disabilities, rural women, HIV positive women, domestic workers, survivors of gender based violence and other human rights violations and gender non-conforming people.

    The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) and Sonke Gender Justice jointly steer the CGE Monitor, but the WLC is the formal secretariat of the CGE Monitor.

    Objectives of the CGE Monitor

    The overall objective of the CGE Monitor is to ensure the effective function of the CGE so that it delivers on its mandate to advance gender equality in South Africa by carrying out the core tasks for which it is responsible: monitoring, investigating, researching, educating, lobbying, advising and reporting on issues concerning human rights and gender equality, with a particular focus on government departments, media, traditional and religious leaders and the private sector.

    The CGE Monitor intends to attain this objective by monitoring the performance of the CGE and by holding the CGE accountable for delivering on its mandate.

    Funding

    The activities of the CGE Monitor are funded by the Open Society Foundation and Heinrich Böell Foundation.

    CGE Monitor Activities

    The CGE Monitor will monitor the CGE’s performance in the following areas:

    1. Does the CGE monitor whether government creates and implements laws, policies and programmes that are intended to advance gender equality.
    2. Does the CGE monitor whether government takes action to support and promote the prevention of gender based violence and the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS and other manifestations of gender inequality.
    3. Does the CGE take action to increase public awareness of the CGE’s role and duties to attain gender equality and how the public can contribute to, access or participate in CGE activities.

    Specific activities that the CGE Monitor will conduct include:

    1. Draft a discussion document setting out the powers, duties and functions of the CGE, a review of actions taken in 2010 and 2011 and the CGE Monitor’s short and long-term expectations of the CGE.
    2. Meet with the newly appointed CGE chair and commissioners to introduce the CGE Monitor, its objectives and planned activities.
    3. Monitor the CGE’s performance over the first six months of its new term. This “Six months review” will be informed by civil society submissions on its interactions with the CGE during this period and reported through a potential SMS and online monitoring form, the CGE’s reported activities, media reports on the CGE’s activities and individual submissions from community members.
    4. Provide tools and monitoring mechanisms to civil society organisations so that they can monitor the CGE’s delivery on its mandate and hold the CGE to account for failing to deliver on its mandate.
    5. Strengthen the capacity of mainstream and community media to educate the public about the CGE and to report on its work.
    6. Engage in media advocacy on the CGE including: writing key investigative pieces about the CGE’s work to be featured in print, and on radio and television, issuing advocacy alerts regarding legislation and policy reviews, calls to action via bulk sms, Facebook and Twitter.
    7. Increase public awareness of the CGE’s role and provide communities with concrete mechanisms to report on their experiences with the CGE including:
      • PSAs and talk shows about the CGE on community and commercial radio describing the CGE’s duties and responsibilities,
      • Murals in high traffic areas drawing attention to the existence and work of the CGE,
      • Ambush theatre about the CGE in high pedestrian traffic areas,
      • A CGE monitor SMS line for the public to report on their interactions with the CGE.
    8. Draft six month assessment, titled ‘‘Setting the Agenda” which looks at what the CGE prioritised during the 100 days and host a public dialogue to share the findings with key stakeholders, including the media.
    9. Issue quarterly report cards measuring CGE performance against their mandate and especially on key priorities identified by the campaign and conduct four media briefings with journalists to appraise them of campaign activities and the work of the CGE.
    10. Engage in civil disobedience if necessary to draw attention to CGE inaction and to apply the necessary pressure to prompt the commission to do its work proactively.
  • Integrating Strategies to Engage Men and Boys through National Strategic Plans on HIV and AIDS (NSPs)

    Integrating Strategies to Engage Men and Boys through National Strategic Plans on HIV and AIDS (NSPs)

    Two global consultations have taken place on the need to integrate strategies to address GBV and engage men and boys to advance gender equality through NSPs on HIV and AIDS.

    These two meetings were convened by Sonke and the UN Interagency Working Group on Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV (specifically: UNFPA, UNDP, UNAIDS, UN Women and WHO), in collaboration with the MenEngage Alliance and ATHENA Network.

    The meetings aimed to review current NSPs to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these plans with regard to addressing gender-based violence and engaging men and boys for gender equality, and to develop country action plans for advocacy to address priority issues and gaps.

    The first of these consultations was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 30th November to 2nd December 2010, and brought together participants from 14 countries across five regions.

    The second meeting was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 14th to 16th November 2011, bringing together delegations from 16 (new) countries.

    A regional meeting was held in 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa where representatives from Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe participated.

    A further regional meeting was held in Dakar, Senegal, in September 2013, where representatives from seven African countries participated.

    » Download the meeting summary from the West and Central Africa Regional Consultation, Dakar, Senegal, September 2013.

    Background

    These consultations were organised in response to commitments in the UNAIDS Agenda for Accelerated Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV and the UNAIDS 2011-2015 Strategy: Getting to Zero, which highlight the importance of achieving zero tolerance to gender-based violence and engaging men and boys for gender equality. In particular, they were conceived to address the concern that gender-based violence and the engagement of men and boys for gender equality have not been sufficiently integrated into countries’ NSPs, by creating a space to systematically analyse NSPs and develop a coordinated approach to strengthen support moving forward.

    Far from standing alone, the Nairobi and Istanbul consultations form part of growing efforts to address the intersections of gender equality and HIV, including: championing women’s rights in the context of HIV; addressing the HIV needs of women and girls; enhancing efforts to integrate a focus on gender-based violence as a cause and consequence of HIV into HIV responses; and actively engaging men and boys in achieving gender equality to challenge constructions of masculinity that exacerbate the spread and impact of HIV.

    This collaboration has strengthened working relationships between MenEngage and the UN at global, regional and country levels.

    Impact

    In April and May 2012 an impact and needs assessment was instigated to evaluate progress against country action plans developed during the meeting, and to map technical needs for moving further forward on country action plans.

    The report comprises of an executive summary of key findings, conclusions and next steps drawn from the analysis of the on-line questionnaire and in-depth interviews, followed by an annexe of more detailed summaries of the on-line questionnaire’s nine sections.

    » Download the Impact and Needs Assessment

    The purpose was to inform the on-going work of the UN Interagency Working Group on Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV, and civil society partners to support past consultation participants; to highlight achievements, showcase successful programmatic and/or advocacy strategies, and share good practice; and to inform future initiatives to advance policy and programming on addressing gender-based violence and engaging men and boys to advance gender equality through NSPs.

    What emerged clearly from this assessment is that the meetings had a catalytic effect on thinking, policy and practice regarding the urgency to address gender-based violence as a cause and consequence of HIV, and the need to engage men and boys as agents of positive change to halt gender-based violence, and bring about more gender equitable communities.

    The assessment also produced a compilation of country case studies, highlighting key stories of change and impact resulting from the consultations, drawn primarily from in-depth interviews and follow-up.

    » Download the Compilation of Country Case Studies

  • WEGE Bill Fails Women – Call for Wide Consultations

    WEGE Bill Fails Women – Call for Wide Consultations

    The Department of Women Children and People with Disabilities recently released its 2013 version of the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee has called for public comment on the Bill by 20 December 2013. After consulting interested parties, we are of the view that the Bill fails to serve its objectives if it is passed into law.

    The Bill as it currently stands is insufficient to serve its purported purpose to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality in South Africa. Broadly, We are of the view that in order to attain the objects of the WEGE Bill, it must seek to effectively address patriarchy and structural unfair gender discrimination in order to address its varied manifestations that keep gender inequality alive in South Africa. The Bill focuses on formal rather than substantive equality and consequently omits to put in place adequate measures to make significant changes to the realities of daily struggles faced by the majority of South African women and girls. The Bill defines gender in binary terms as a result excludes gender non-conforming people. We are also concerned that the Bill will become yet another piece of legislation that is not effectively implemented, rendering it ineffective due to an omission to properly cost and budget for its implementation.

    We have requested that the Portfolio Committee postpone the submission deadline from 20 December 2013 to a date next year after the Committee has had the opportunity to complete a thorough consultative process with women in different contexts across the country.

    Whilst we have called for a postponement of the submission deadline and to consult women broadly on what they want the WEGE Bill to contain, we are requesting that organisations make submissions on the WEGE Bill on or before 20 December should the deadline not be postponed. For more information on this call, please see:

    » Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill
    » Letter to the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities

  • National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS

    National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS

    Sonke’s Policy, Advocacy and Research (PAR) Unit has made several important submissions on law reform and policies in South Africa. One of the most important is the National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS 2012-2016, an ambitious strategy for managing AIDS in South Africa and reducing its damage to society. The NSP aims to reduce new HIV infections by 50% and get at least 80% of eligible patients on anti-retroviral treatment.

    Research has revealed that men are chronically under-represented in HIV services (as they are in health services more generally). Of the 13 million people who were tested in South Africa’s 2011 HIV testing campaign, fewer than 1 in every 3 people were men. Men access HIV treatment later than women – often when their immune systems are already severely compromised – and are more likely to interrupt their own anti-retroviral treatment. Men’s failure to access health services is bad for them, for women, and for society in general, generating a heavy burden on health systems and on families and carers. Despite these facts from research, most national HIV-related policies still did not recognise men’s low use of health-care systems and strategise on this significant problem.

    As the convenor of the South African National AIDS Council’s (SANAC) Men’s Sector, in September 2011 Sonke hosted a summit to prepare the Men’s Sector’s submission for the development of the NSP 2012-2016. The submission called for including Medical Male Circumcision as part of men’s health care, the development of psycho-social support programmes to target boys after circumcision and for scaling up the implementation of the Traditional Male Circumcision Act in all provinces. All the points reflected especially the inclusion of the boy child throughout the NSP 2012-2016.

    As a result, the final NSP 2012-2016 document names the problem of men’s involvement in HIV and AIDS treatment. It explicitly recognises the fact that men do not use health services enough and it encourages actively seeking testing to discover one’s HIV status. It calls people to challenge the gender norms and inequalities that harm both men’s and women’s health.

    For the PAR unit, the new NSP represents a breakthrough: it recognises that greater efforts need to be made to engage men in HIV services and it makes clear that doing so is in the interests of women, men and the public health system.

  • Stop Gender Violence: A National Campaign

    Stop Gender Violence: A National Campaign

    Gender-based violence in South Africa

    The high rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa, further highlighted by a number of high-profile cases over the last few years, has given rise to significant public support to end GBV. Government has made some efforts towards ending GBV, but these have been marred by inefficient coordination and almost no budget provisions made towards prevention and services.

    One such effort towards effective coordination was the National Council on Gender-Based Violence (NCGBV), a council created for the purpose of drafting, costing, and implementing a national strategic plan (NSP) to combat GBV. Since its formation in 2012, it has been destabilised by political changes and lack of funding to execute its mandate. There has been no official word on its status since 2014 when former Minister of Women, Susan Shabangu, was appointed and the Ministry failed to reconstitute it and provide an update on its status.

    Stop Gender Violence: A National Campaign

    In response, civil society organisations across the country came together in 2014 to form the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence (NSP GBV) campaign, demanding a fully-costed, evidence-based, multi-sectoral, inclusive and comprehensive NSP to end GBV. The campaign’s mandate and objectives have since broadened to holistically address and respond to GBV more broadly. As such, the campaign was renamed in May 2016 to Stop Gender Violence: A National Campaign.

    The campaign has carried out the following activities since its inception:

    • Research and policy work on civil society’s NSPGBV shadow framework – a framework to inform the aim of a government-led NSPGBV.
    • Provincial engagements with grassroot organisations and beneficiaries to to ensure that grassroots voices are able to shape the NSPGBV agenda.
    • Capacity-building and administrative support to civil society groups in advancing efforts of the campaign.
    • The production of technical materials and briefs to strengthen the content of the NSPGBV.
    • A petition in 2014, signed by South Africans demanding an NSP on GBV. Find the link here.
    • A postcard campaign in 2014 with individualised personal stories of women affected by GBV, which are posted to the Minister of Women, urging action. You can see these here.
    • Marches across the country in 2014 demanding an NSP on GBV and calling for an end to lip service, unfunded mandates, and no more empty promises.

    The campaign launched its NSPGBV shadow framework in October 2017 and is currently in the process of engaging government to ensure the uptake of the NSPGBV. Diagnostic review of government strategies to address violence against women and children

    In 2014 KPMG was commissioned to conduct a diagnostic review of government strategies to address violence against women and children (VAWC) and what could be done to strengthen them. It reviews both the institutional and programmatic mechanisms by which the state addresses violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC). It considers the ‘whole of government’ response, covering overarching challenges faced by 11 key departments with roles to address VAWC. It considers the state response across the three spheres of government: national, provincial and local.

    The report was embargoed for many months but is now finally available online at evaluations.dpme.gov.za. We place them here for ease of access and to make sure they remain easily available for civil society activists and researchers:

    See our short video on why we need an NSP on GBV here.

    Like our Facebook page (NSP GBV Campaign) and follow us on Twitter (@NSPGBV).

    To join the campaign, email the membership form (found here) to taskteamnspgbv@googlegroups.com.

    “No more empty promises! No more unfunded mandates! No more lip-service!”

  • One Man Can

    One Man Can

    The One Man Can (OMC) Campaign encourages men to become actively involved in advocating for gender equality, preventing gender-based violence (GBV), and responding to HIV and AIDS. Sonke supports men in achieving this by helping them change their belief on gender norms, taking an active stand against domestic and sexual violence, and sustaining these changes in their personal lives – all of which contribute to reducing the rapid spread of HIV.

    The OMC Campaign strengthens community mobilisation and conducts public awareness activities to educate communities on prevention and response to GBV and HIV. These activities include:

    • In-depth OMC workshops for community leaders on GBV.
    • Training of Community Action Team (CAT) members to use their new-found knowledge from the workshops to educate their communities.
    • Door-to-door awareness campaigns.
    • Painting murals in communities.
    • Acting ambush theatre.
    • Using taxis, through branding/stickers and thought-provoking messages in a language that is appealing, relatable and educational.
    • Rallying mass public events on key dates like Women’s Month, Youth Day, and 16 Days of Activism on Gender Violence to educate communities on GBV and HIV.
    • Organisation of seminars on GBV and disabilities.
    • Soccer tournaments.

    The campaign also seeks to provide training and technical assistance to partner organisations to strengthen their capacity to engage men and boys in the prevention of GBV and HIV at community level.

    Expected outcomes of the OMC Campaign include:

    • Improved awareness and knowledge among community members – particularly men – on the impact of GBV and their increased commitment and skills to address it.
    • Increased capacity of Sonke partner organisations to implement the OMC Campaign independently in their communities and to fully integrate OMC activities into their existing and future programme activities.
    • Strengthened capacity and commitment amongst partner organisations and key community stakeholders (traditional leaders, local government authorities, teachers, medical staff, media) to understand and address the relationship between gender norms and roles, negative masculinities and GBV and HIV & AIDS.
    • Positive changes in social norms, attitudes and behaviour related to GBV and gender equality, leading to a reduction in violence in the project sites.

    Launched in Johannesburg and Cape Town on 25 November 2006 to mark the beginning of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, and in Geneva at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) headquarters a few days later.

  • Community Education & Mobilisation

    Community Education & Mobilisation

    Widespread gender norms, which associate masculinity with strength and dominance encourage and permit the continuation of violence against women, children and LGBTI people in South Africa, and across the continent. These norms permeate all levels of society – families, schools, communities, workplaces and the justice system. Gender norms that permit violence also encourage men to have multiple sexual partners, forgo protection like condom use, and prevent many men from seeking healthcare. As a result men often become unaware transmitters of HIV and other STIs. Though women make up more than half of those living with HIV, men who contract HIV tend to die earlier as a result of poorer health seeking behaviours.

    Though 19.2% of South Africa’s population lives with HIV, the pandemic disproportionately affects women, sex workers, and men who have sex with men, as well as other groups. These are the same groups who suffer high levels of sexual and physical violence as well as social and economic marginalisation.

    What we do

    Sonke’s Community Education and Mobilisation (CEM) Unit works closely with men and women and boys and girls in many different communities across South Africa’s nine provinces to address gender inequalities, gender-based violence (GBV) and the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS.

    The unit is comprised of a team of highly experienced, passionate and dedicated trainers who work with refugees and migrants, parents (especially fathers), ex-inmates, schoolchildren, media workers and traditional and faith leaders.

    Since its inception, Sonke has been committed to building and sustaining grassroots citizen activism and rights literacy to hold Government accountable to its constitutional obligations in advancing gender equality, deepening women’s rights, guaranteeing physical integrity and the right to health, and ensuring all are equal before the law.

    Sonke’s primary strategy for achieving this vision of active and empowered local communities has been the development of Community Action Teams, or CATs, which are led by the CEM unit. Over the last decade, Sonke has established dozens of CATs in most South African provinces, including in rural, urban and semi-urban areas. Currently, Sonke has 50 active CATs working to advance gender justice at the local level. These include CATs in refugee communities in Cape Town and Johannesburg, with former prison inmates and their families in Cape Town, with rural communities in the Eastern Cape, and in our research study sites in Bushbuckridge, Diepsloot, inner-city Johannesburg and Gugulethu, where we have been conducting and publishing research on community mobilisation for many years.

    Sonke is committed to continually researching and documenting its own and its partners’ community-mobilisation approaches in order to learn from and share successful practices, and integrate these practices into its own CAT model.