South Africa

Do we care enough about sexual violence?

JOHANNESBURG, 11 December 2013 (IRIN) - Nomsa*, 20, was on her way to register at a university outside Pretoria, South Africa, with four friends when the men grabbed her. "I was fighting with them," she said. They dragged her into a building, where the five of them took turns to rape her. The friends ran away and did not come back to look for her. The men took Nomsa's mobile phone.

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South Africa: The (Re) Making Of Men

Manhood might be hard to define but South African media make it even harder, according to editors of a new book, who argue that negative coverage of men is doing more harm than good, especially when it comes to HIV. Now they are looking to rewrite masculinity in a country that ranks among the most gender inequitable in the world.

South Africa: 'South Africa searches soul over alleged rape of disabled 17-year-old girl'

It is a country that can seem inured to violence from sheer familiarity. But this was a crime so shocking that even South Africa has begun to search its soul.

A disabled 17-year-old girl, said to have the mental capacity of a five-year-old, was allegedly gang-raped by seven men and boys in an assault that came to light only when a mobile phone video of the brutal attack went viral online.

Women’s Legal Centre (South Africa)

The WLC seeks to advance the struggle for equality for women, particularly black women, who suffer socio-economic disadvantage, through the promotion and development of human rights for women.

Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA)

WLSA (Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust) is a regional non-governmental organisation (NGO) that conducts research about women’s human rights in seven countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. WLSA thus defines its vision as a society with social justice and equality, and is committed to defending human rights in general.

Law and Sharia Consultants

Law and Sharia Consultants is a consultancy group based in Cape Town, South Africa. Apart from promoting the research of various issues pertaining to the application of Muslim Personal Law in South Africa, this website also highlights the services it offers and acts as a resource for our outreach initiatives.

Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC)

The HSRC has equipped itself to respond flexibly and comprehensively to national requirements, by aligning its research capabilities into the following interdisciplinary, problem-orientated, research programmes: Education and Skills Development, Economic Performance and Development, Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation, HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB (including the Africa-wide research network, SAHARA), Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery, and also Human and Social Development.

Resources at Marriage and Intra-household Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia and South Africa

The authors test the unitary versus collective model of the household using specially designed data from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa. Human capital and individual assets at the time of marriage are used as proxy measures for bargaining power. In all four countries, we reject the unitary model as a description of household behaviour, but fail to reject the hypothesis that households are Pareto-efficient. In Bangladesh and South Africa, women's assets increase expenditure shares on education, while in Ethiopia it is men's assets that have this effect.

International: Islamic Texts as a Source for Acceptance of Queer Individuals

Queer Muslims face a multitude of challenges, of which one is rejection. This is anchored by the belief that homosexuality is a major sin in Islam and punishable by death under Shariah law. The Inner Circle has documented through engaging with the local Muslim community of Cape Town that most people who react harshly towards queer Muslims do so from a position of fear and ignorance of the challenges facing queer Muslims.

South Africa: 500 gay couples married in first country in Southern Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage

It was another picture-perfect wedding at the foot of Table Mountain, recalled the Rev. Daniel Brits. Inside the chapel, a female vocalist sang “Wind Beneath My Wings” before he led the nervous couple through their vows surrounded by family and friends a few weeks ago. That the betrothed were two men gave few of the guests pause. For Mr. Brits, it was all in a day’s work. After all, he says, he has married more than 500 gay couples in the four years since South Africa became the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage, a distinction that ended only this month when Argentina did the same.