South Africa has been in lockdown for more than a week now – facing a national disaster for the first time since the inception of our democracy. For many South Africans this causes financial loss, uncertainty, uncomfortable living arrangements, and stress about what tomorrow might bring. A fortunate few could afford to enter panic-buying mode and some could embark on doomsday-like preparations but many others find themselves in exceedingly difficult circumstances.
Peer educators from the Birds and Bees project are challenging rape culture and building a culture of consent in their schools.
In a pre recorded address to the nation today, President Ramaphosa made a number of commitments to end Gender Based Violence in South Africa. Part of his speech included a roll call of dead women, who died at the hands of men.
It’s 2019, and in May the country voted in its sixth democratic election. Like in 1993, Doc Martens and plaid are in fashion. Ministers and Presidents have changed again, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) getting the youngest Minister in President Ramaphosa’s Cabinet – Ronald Lamola.
In many ways it is easy for me to think that I am in charge of my own health. It is my body after all. If I want to be healthy then I can learn what it means to eat healthy foods and make an effort to eat those healthy foods. I can learn why […]
The Wynberg Project, described in Part 1 of this series, proved to be a success – the court maintained a conviction rate of up to 80 percent over a period of a year (1993). This meant that four in five cases that went to court resulted in a conviction – the perpetrator went to jail.[i]
INTRODUCTION We’re going to tell you a story that has four parts. It’s a complicated story, but we’re going to try to tell it in a simple way. It is a story where language and meanings change. The very definition of words and crimes change. But, the attitudes and norms of society don’t change very […]
The Rape Survivors Justice Campaign (RSJC) and its coalition partners intend to hold government accountable for the promised roll out of specialised sexual offences courts. These courts are specialised in offering the right kind of support to rape survivors when they need it most, and it is this factor that we believe is key to […]
As discussed in our previous article, attrition of rape cases in South Africa is a matter of serious concern. The RAPSSA Report found that there were many different factors influencing the attrition of rape cases as they move through the criminal justice system. Some of these were due to the inefficiency and inconsistency of investigating […]
