The Women’s Legal Centre challenges the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act which places a prohibition on the publication of any information relating to persons accused of sexual offences before the accused as pleaded to the charges.
For the next 16 Days the Women’s Legal Centre will join the global community in commemorating the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which will run from 25 November to 10 December 2022, under the theme “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls”.
Creating The Future In The Present – The Feminist Revolution Continues And Must Continue Twenty-seven years ago, South Africa’s first democratic elections were held. The promise of a new dawn is one that we will never forget. A new democracy birthed the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which was approved by the Constitutional
Charlene May and Mandi Mudarikwa unpack the Bwanya Judgement, which points to women in our patriarchal society often lacking the bargaining power in relationships to negotiate a marriage and highlights how we can change that in a court of law.
In what can only be described as a victory for poor and working class women the Western Cape High Court (Equality Court) yesterday issued an order in the form of a notice that the City of Cape Town’s housing policy known as the “Housing Scheme Constructed by the Local Authority” is in fact unconstitutional in that it discriminates against women who were not recognised as co-owners of housing units which they received from the City under the policy.
The Women’s Legal Centre will be appearing in the Western Cape High Court sitting as the Equality Court on the Abdullah and WLCT v The City of Cape Town case. The case will be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022.
The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) launched an intensive three-week training programme for law students from different universities across South Africa on Monday, 04 July 2022. The WLC Feminist Academy programme, believed to be the first of its kind in South Africa, received over 200 applications from female students across South Africa, with 15 students successfully joining the Academy.
On 19 July 2022, the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in an application brought by the Social Justice Coalition and others, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, for leave to appeal and direct access to this Court seeking a declaratory order that the Equality Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, Cape Town (‘Equality Court’) had constructively refused to grant the Social Justice Coalition a remedy after its finding that the formula used by SAPS in the allocation of police services was discriminatory against Black and poor people on the grounds of race and poverty.
On 20 and 21 July 2022 the Johannesburg High Court will hear an application brought by the Women’s Legal Centre Trust (WLC Trust), on behalf of its clients TT and BM, in which they challenge the unlawful interference by the Department of Social Development (Department) with TT and BM’s decisions to place their biological children up for adoption.
The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) is elated in welcoming the judgment handed down by the Constitutional Court in which it finally provides recognition of Muslim women’s rights to equal recognition and protection in marriage.
In a country where access to abortion and other sexual and reproductive health care services are difficult to access the Constitutional Court judgment handed down on Wednesday, 15 June 2022 in the case of Voice of the Unborn Baby NPC and another v The Minister of Home Affairs and another goes a far way in ensuring that women’s right to choose is protected.
The purpose of the Harassment Code is to ensure that South African workplaces comply with their constitutional as well as our country’s international obligations to ensure safe and just working environments.
The Women’s Legal Centre is inspired by the judgement handed down by the Western Cape High Court this morning in which the Court overturned an order made by the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court gagging our client from speaking about the fact that she was raped by her ex-boyfriend.
Through our work as the Women’s Legal Centre, we are all too aware that simply because our constitution requires equality both as a right not to be infringed and a value by which we all strive to live, traditionally most male partners dictate the nature and evolution of a romantic and intimate relationship.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAPE TOWN: 04 January 2022 Victory for women in opposite sex domestic partnerships as the Constitutional Court recognises their right to inherit testate and claim spousal maintenance On 31 December 2021 the Constitutional Court issued its judgment in the matter of Bwanya vs Master of the High Court Cape Town and Others
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAPE TOWN: 12 December 2021 The Women’s Legal Centre will be appearing in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 13 December 2021, representing a client to oppose an interim protection order in terms of the Protection from Harassment Act and challenge the constitutionality of certain provisions of the law contained in the
Continuing with South Africa’s current separate marriage dispensation reinforces the marginalisation and stigmatisation of LGBTQIA+ persons. Instead, the Women’s Legal Centre and Triangle Project urge government to step up their current efforts to reform marriage and relationship laws by bringing all interpersonal relationships under one legal umbrella that recognises people’s diverse social, religious and cultural
The Women’s Legal Centre strongly believes that if we want womxn in South Africa to enjoy the full benefit of legal protection in their personal relationships, we must make it easier for them to register customary marriages and ensure that existing relationship-related rights are also practically extended to all customary marriages. A low rate of
CAPE TOWN: 30 August 2021 The WLC encouraged by WCHC landmark decision against an interdict seeking to silence rape survivor The WLC welcomes the judgement made by Judge Baartman earlier today in which she found against Melvin Booysen who had sought to interdict June Major Dolley from posting about him publicly and on social media.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 05 August 2021 At the start of the hearing of our case, Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) v President of South Africa on the recognition of Muslim marriages in the Constitutional Court this morning (5 August 2021), a participant logged into the hearing link was heard referring to our counsel, Advocate Nazreen Bawa
If the state is committed to reforming South Africa’s family law in a manner that realises rights, it must provide a broader recognition and protection of the diversity of relationships and family structures in South Africa. This must include a recognition of domestic partnerships, religious and customary marriages. In 1996, the census data recorded that
The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) celebrates a landmark victory for Muslim women and children, who are now legally recognised following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing of the Divorce Amendment Bill. This achievement follows the WLC’s Constitutional Court application, addressing the legal exclusion of Muslim marriages from South Africa’s Marriage Act and Divorce Act. In June 2022,
The South African legal profession is complex and carries the burden of a patriarchal legacy of racism and gender discrimination. It is particularly Black women who continue to be viewed through a stereotypical lens, with their work historically being undervalued and underpaid. Given South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history, it comes as no surprise that
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAPE TOWN: 20 March 2023 The Women’s Legal Centre Trust (WLCT) is disappointed by the majority judgment handed down by the Western Cape High Court full bench on Friday, 17 March 2023. The WLCT was admitted as amicus curiae in the matter of EW v VH in which the Applicant (“W”) sought
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAPE TOWN: 20 January 2023 The WLC seeks to intervene in developing the common law for women in life partnerships. The Women’s Legal Centre Trust (WLC Trust) has brought an application to be admitted as amicus curiae (friends of the court) in a case brought in the Western Cape High Court. The
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TT & BM vs MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT & OTHERS – CASE NO 43969/2020 – VICTORY for women and children: UNLAWFUL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL STATE INTERFERENCE IN THE RIGHT TO PLACE A CHILD(REN) FOR ADOPTION The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) welcomes the judgment handed down by the Johannesburg High Court on the 19th of November 2022.