Women’s Day: We are the feminist leadership we have been waiting for International Women’s Day is commemorated annually on 8 March. In South Africa, we honour the bravery showed by womxn on 9 August 1956 when they took to the streets in protest over the apartheid system. 20 000 womxn came together on that day
Category Archives: Opinion
It is time for our Government to take heed of the lived realities of womxn farmworkers The Women’s Legal Centre, with the Women on Farms Project, are calling on government to open labour centres and make mobile labour centres available in rural areas so that women who live and work on farms can claim unemployment
Strandfontein shelter shows importance of monitoring womxn’s rights during a crisis Our government’s COVID-19 response and Disaster Management Act Regulations must be subjected to stringent monitoring to ensure the safety and security of womxn throughout the country, according to the Women’s Legal Centre. The Women’s Legal Centre has been admitted as a friend of the
The Women’s Legal Centre reflects after President Ramaphosa addresses the nation for the third time on Monday evening on the status of our COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa. The WLC recognises that this is a difficult time for everyone; our government, public interest sector and nation. Our main reflection during this lockdown is what a
Opinion #PoliceResources and how the case affects women Article by Janie Booth Khayelitsha has one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world. Assault, rape, and murder is a reality for many women. Women’s rights to safety, security, life, and health are violated daily. The reason behind these problems is a lack
Opinion The Constitutional Court Reinforces Spatial Violence Created By South Africa’s Apartheid Past The Constitutional Court ruling, in the Baron V Claytile matter, points to a disregard for poor people’s agency, therefore affirming the idea that choice is a luxury reserved for the wealthy. Instead of interpreting the law through pro-farmer, pro-poor, pro-human-rights lenses, the
Opinion HOW STATE CAPTURE AFFECTS WOMEN By Janie Booth and Victoria Wang State capture refers to the efforts of the powerful elite to influence the government into operating in a way that benefits private interests. In South Africa, it is diverting money from social delivery programmes, which are supposed to promote human rights and social
Opinion CHECKING THE NEWS EACH MORNING BRINGS A CONTINUOUS STREAM OF UPDATES ON STATE CAPTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA. But do they talk at all about women? By Janie Booth State capture has an impact on all citizens of South Africa, but none more than black women. Women’s realities here are determined by race, class, and
Opinion State Capture – How does it work? We encounter poverty every day. When we are approached by the mostly young, mostly black beggars that roam on seemingly every street we take, I am struck by a range of emotions: anxiety, fear, annoyance. Mixed in those feelings used to be pity and empathy, but they
Opinion Sex work in South Africa must be decriminalised —in a democratic society, this cannot be put on the back burner any longer. The decriminalisation of sex work would be a progressive and proactive step forward in supporting the rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. It would limit the risk of HIV infection for