Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:55 — 16.4MB)
Injustice against women is probably no more clearly demonstrated than in the laws of a country and in their interpretation and implementation by the justice system. We do not have to think back very far to recall how we fought a long struggle to replace the sexist and racist laws of apartheid with a new Constitution which has at its heart a Bill of Rights in which the Equality Clause upholds gender equality as a promise of equity for South Africa’s women and men of all races and classes.
This issue of Agenda sought to elicit research and writings from those who work at the interface between the law itself, and its impact and consequences upon women, to contribute to the critical work of ensuring gender justice in the day to day lives of South African women.
In the following podcast, we hear the views of Johannesburg based gender activist Lisa Vetten and Cape Town based Jayne Arnott. Vetten is the executive director of Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC) and Arnott, the director of Triangle Project.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:42 — 17.4MB)
This special issue of Agenda seeks to explore the gendered dynamics of contemporary marital relationships. In the context of major social and sexual transformations, we are interested in how men and women relate, experience and navigate intimate life, sex, economic subsistence and reproduction.
In trying to liberate the marriage institution from its patriarchal content and the heteronormative building blocks that uphold it, authors in this issue critique the marriage institution by providing answers to the following question: Is marriage a risky business or a safe haven? They reflect on change and transformation in their experiences of marriage or outside of it.
Topics and issues covered include the differing ritual advice (‘go laya’ in Setswana) given to brides and grooms in traditional marriages in Botswana, same-sex marriages in Cape Town, child and forced marriage as harmful traditional and cultural practices which continue to violate the rights of the girl children in the Southern African Development Community region, continued ‘discarding’ of a wife by the courts when they declare the marriage of a second or later wife in a dual (polygamous) marriage void where the husband failed to adhere to legal provisions when entering into the subsequent marriage while already married, women’s experiences of intimate partner violence enacted by their husbands within marriage, and the experiences of seven black South African women in polygynous marriages.
The accompanying podcast contains the real life experience of a Muslim woman who lives in one of South Africa’s urban centres, and two academics who are based at the University of KwaZulu Natal.
FURTHER READINGS
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:45 — 7.4MB)
Poverty is gendered and calls for gendered solutions. This is the finding of the following podcast.
We speak to Mercia Andrews of Trust for Community Outreach and Education. TCOE is a national organisation that operates mainly in the rural areas of South Africa. We also hear from Sarah Claasen, president of Sikhula Sonke, a women led trade union which operates as a social movement dealing with all livelihood challenges of farmwomen.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:14 — 7.4MB)
In sub-Saharan Africa, women produce 80-90 percent of the food. They have little access to credit which limits their ability to purchase seeds, fertilizers and other inputs needed to adopt new farming techniques.
In this podcast, we hear from Herschelle Milford who is the director of Surplus People Project. SPP advocates for pro poor agrarian reform and food sovereignty.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:16 — 10.0MB)
This podcast examines the state of feminism in Africa today. It is contextualised by American political activist, scholar and author Angela Davis. Davis reflects on the 1985 Women’s Conference which took place in Nairobi, Kenya. (more…)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:10 — 8.4MB)
While South Africa is still staggering under the backlog arising from the many decades of the engineered structural inequality of apartheid, water scarcity in working-class urban and rural households still remains a critical issue.
In this podcast, former Chairperson of the Gender and Water Alliance, Ethne Davey, illustrates that inadequate access to water is not gender neutral in its consequences. We also catch a glimpse of the living conditions of two women who live in informal settlements in South Africa’s Western Cape region. Both women do not have direct access to clean, running water.
How do you think government should improve women’s access to clean, running water?
Read the full transcript here
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:09 — 11.1MB)
The theme of this podcast was a result of the realisation of the shortage of studies dealing with issues that affect girls in Southern Africa. (more…)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:03 — 9.2MB)
This podcast looks at gender violence in education. It features the voices of several university students and a domestic violence survivor. (more…)
