The government has justified its military force as a measure to consolidate national unity and ensure safety, but at what cost to female citizens?
gender violence
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Health, Lifestyle
An open letter to my students: Cat-calling women is not okay
By Kerry Frizelle While I was lecturing, a female student arrived late*. As she made her way to a seat, another student cat-called her (a whistle). The female student was already conspicuous because she was late and the cat-call drew the entire class’s attention to her. It took me a while to process what was […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, General, News/Politics
The war on our women, children and fellow Africans
I am ashamed to be a South African man today. How have we fallen so far as a nation? From being celebrated globally as the ‘Rainbow Nation’ — for our peaceful transition to democracy; for our Constitution which stood as one of the best in the world because of the weight afforded to protecting basic […]
Posted inGender violence, General, Lifestyle
Raising girls; raising boys
When my elder daughter, now 17, decided in Grade 6 that she wanted to attend a school social, we had to have a long talk. She was just 11, but I had to teach her not to accept drinks that weren’t sealed, not to leave an open drink unattended, not to hand out her phone […]
Posted inGender violence
Nine ways to make our universities safer
By Esmeralda Sayagues Several South African universities have recently been rocked by student protests deploring the high incidence of campus rape and sexual violence. The students have demanded that universities implement fair procedures that yield justice for complainants and punishment for offenders. In order to address these issues it is useful to look at the […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Outlaw speech: Contesting sexual coercion on campus
To law falls the privilege of demarcating and controlling a particular territory as its own. That which it cannot, or will not, claim is pushed beyond its borders to become that which is without law – or outlaw. This is one way to think about the release of a list of men accused of rape […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Men will never stop hurting us
As a child, I thought that grownups weren’t afraid of anything. They killed spiders. They didn’t believe in monsters and ghosts. They weren’t scared of dogs or the dark or the deep end of the swimming pool. Of all the disappointing discoveries of adulthood, the realisation that grownups are in fact very frightened very often […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Gender violence and environmental injustice in the maquiladoras
Cost-benefit analyses are fairly central to mainstream economics. Even if one sets aside developments in economics of information or behaviour economics, which make room for irrationalities, social and psychological factors or asymmetries in information, economists will insist, and most of us may agree, that “things have to be paid for”. There is, however, a big […]
Posted inGender violence
Talk dirty to me, talk about consent
“Please can I take this off you …?” Things get hot and heavy and you whisper this in a manner so low it is barely audible. The night just gets better from there. That was an instant of asking for consent. There are so many ways of asking for consent. I have friends who go […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Four years later, Noxolo Nogwaza’s killers are still free
By Tracy Doig Four years ago today, 24-year-old Noxolo Nogwaza was raped and murdered in KwaThema, Ekurhuleni. The young mother of two was on her way home after a night out with friends. Since Noxolo’s brutal murder, attacks on people because of their gender presentation or perceived sexual orientation are still too tragically common, especially […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Africans have a responsibility to ‘make it happen’ for African women
By Rhulani Thembi Siweya March 8 was International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated throughout the world since 1911. This day is marked by various events from one country to another with young and old women at the forefront of these celebrations. This year the women’s day was celebrated under the theme “make it happen”. […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, General
Get your clothing laws off my body
I recently read a piece on Buzzfeed about items of clothing women have been barred from wearing in 2014, and I was livid. Some of them include: * Women in Uganda being banned from wearing mini-skirts. Some were even publicly undressed for wearing them; * More than 250 girls being removed from a school in […]