South Africa

South Africa: When 'Traditional Values' are a Stick to Beat Women

When he opened the House of Traditional Leaders this week, President Jacob Zuma reiterated his call for a national debate on a moral code and on the values of South Africans. He argued that traditional leaders could play an important role in service delivery and rural development. The president quoted Albert Luthuli's famous model of leadership: "A chief is primarily a servant of his people." By Pregs Govender

Africa: 30 days of advocacy against Witch-hunts

29 March to 27 April 2010 (Global): The witchcraft epidemic in Africa is fueled by religious extremism. Practitioners of traditional African religions, traditional healers, witch-doctors and Christian missionaries and religious leaders incite witch-hunts on this continent. There are comparisons to be made between Africas current witch-craze, European Inquisitions and American witch-hunts. Perhaps the lessons to be learned in Africa are the same as those that needed to be learned by Europeans and Americans; there is no culture without human rights. All men and women, including Witches, have the right to live without being falsely accused, assaulted, persecuted or murdered.

Africa: Responding to Violence against Sexual Minorities

08/03/2010: We need to understand what it means to be heterosexual as well as homosexual, and that our sexualities affect whether we live or die. During this 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the 15+year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform, the Coalition of African Lesbians (“CAL”) reinforces that: LGBTI rights are human rights, that we are not claiming or asking for “special” or “additional” rights BUT that we call on our African governments to condemn the violence perpetrated against sexual minorities, to refrain from engaging in this violence and to take all measures to ensure the protection of sexual minorities, in particular, lesbian and transgender women subjected to violence.

Africa: Crackdowns on gays make the 'closet' safer

More than two-thirds of African countries have laws criminalizing homosexual acts, and despite accounting for a significant percentage of new infections in many countries, men who have sex with men tend to be left out of the HIV response. "[They] are going underground; they are hiding themselves and continuing to fuel the epidemic," UNAIDS executive director Michél Sidibé told IRIN/PlusNews recently. "We need to make sure these vulnerable groups have the same rights everyone enjoys: access to information, care and prevention for them and their families." IRIN/PlusNews has compiled a short list of human rights violations against gay Africans:

South Africa: Semenya & Celebrating otherness

Long before the Caster Semenya sex-test row hit the headlines, South Africans in all their corners were questioning her identity.

South Africa: Caster Semenya and Gender Discrimination

Letter to the Press by South African activists in response to the controversy surrounding the 800 m women’s world running champion, Caster Semenya and the flurry of articles surrounding this sad saga.

South Africa: Raped and killed for being a lesbian

A report by the international NGO ActionAid, backed by the South African Human Rights Commission, condemns the culture of impunity around these crimes of what are called "corrective rape".

South Africa: Deputy health minister fired for 'doing her job' and addressing HIV/AIDS

South African deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, told a media briefing in Cape Town on Friday that President Thabo Mbeki sacked her for "just doing my job."

South Africa: Proceedings of women's workshop: “Know your rights, accept your responsibilities”

A participant's account of a gender workshop, hosted by the Muslim Youth Movement Cape Town in association with Positive Muslims on 24 February, 2007 at the Saartjie Baartman Centre on the Cape Flats.

Dossier 28: Respecting diversity and difference: South Africa as a case study of the challenges facing a secular democracy