This week Parliament holds public interviews to fill the long vacant seats of commissioners in the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). The CGE has been in disarray for years and has failed to deliver on its mandate to promote gender equality.

Gender justice organisations are coalescing to demand that the Ad Hoc Committee on the Filling of Vacancies in the CGE appropriately apply itself to selecting new commissioners. The following NGOs have come together to monitor the appointment process, including Sonke, Section 27, the Women’s Legal Centre, Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Project, The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, the Medical Research Council’s Gender & Health Unit, Nisaa Institute for Women’s Development, the Women’s Health Research Unit at the University of Cape Town.

Together, we call on Parliament to appoint commissioners who have a deep understanding of gender issues, a track record of gender activism, and vision for capturing the potential of the CGE, and experience to effectively lead the Commission.

It is an institution with a budget of R 60 million and weighty powers vested in it by the Constitution that should be used to advance the quality of life of women. It is essential new commissioners are appointed with the vision, capacity and drive to turn the institution around and ensure that it delivers on its mandate to the people of South Africa. The CGE’s wide array of legal powers, including the power to subpoena any person, and to initiate litigation in its own name, could be highly impactful in advancing gender transformation.

Interviews are taking place on 26th and 27th January at the National Assembly in Cape Town. On the 26th, the interviews are in committee room E305, and on the 27th in committee room E249.

For further information please contact:
Ms. Sisonke Msimang, Sonke Board Chair
+27 82 610-6705

Mr. Dean Peacock, Executive Director, Sonke
+27 72 461-7751

Mr. Desmond Lesejane, Deputy Director, Sonke
+27 84 581-6306

Lisa Vetten from Tshwaranang Legal advocacy centre speaks about some findings of the Shukumisa monitors in 2011.

Jayne Arnott of the Triangle Project is also featured, speaking about the experiences of black lesbians and hate crimes.

This podcast is in MP3 format and is a 16.5 MB download. To download and listen to to the podcast, click here

Thanks to Agenda for producing this podcast, which can also be found on their website at  http://www.agenda.org.za/women-and-the-legal-system/

Sonke Gender Justice Network (Sonke), is excited to announce two major international affirmations for the organisations work to end men’s violence against women and also rated by 80 leaders in the field as one of the top performing organisations working globally to end violence against women. As a relatively new organisation working across Africa to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to support men and boys to take action to promote gender equality, prevent domestic and sexual violence and reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS, we are thrilled to have our work recognised and hope it encourages men and boys from all walks of life to speak out against men’s violence against women.

French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights Prize: Sonke was selected by the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights as one of six “distinguished” organisations out of 160 applicants. Founded in 1988, the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights prize is awarded every year by the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) and rewards human rights defenders around the world for their action on the ground. This prize, presented by the Prime Minister of the French government, is awarded to individual or collective action on the ground, irrespective of nationality or borders, undertaken in France or abroad, with respect to specific themes every year. In 2011, the themes were the fight against human rights violations on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and combating violence against women. Five prize winners share a total award of €75,000 granted by the Prime Minister in Paris on Saturday 10th, and a special mention distinguished the work of five other organisations worldwide. This year around 160 organisations have applied for the prize.

While Sonke was not selected as one of the five winners we are thrilled to have been selected as one of the six organisations to be distinguished by the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights and we are honoured to share this recognition with the KZN Gay and Lesbian Network. For more on their important work see www.gaylesbiankzn.org.

Philanthropedia at GuideStar Global Survey: In a global survey conducted by Philanthropedia at GuideStar and released yesterday, Sonke was rated by 80 leaders from over 60 NGOs, research institutions and philanthropic organisations as one of the top performing organisations working globally to end violence against women. http://www.myphilanthropedia.org/research-report/international/violence-against-women.

Experts working in the field of domestic and sexual violence prevention were asked to recommend up to three nonprofits doing high-impact work across multiple countries/regions, and up to three nonprofits doing high-impact work in a specific country/region. Experts were asked to consider a range of nonprofits including those engaged in service, advocacy, litigation, research, education, and other areas. Nonprofits could focus on one or more of the following areas: peace and gender violence; domestic violence, battering, & marital rape; customary practices; and forced and early marriage. Specifically excluded from the survey were organizations working in human trafficking and reproductive health, rights, and violence against men within the definition of gender based violence.

As a relatively new organisation—established only in 2006—Sonke is proud to be mentioned alongside organisations that are recognized globally for their trail-blazing work and have inspired and informed our work:

• Global Fund for Women
• UN Women
• V-Day
• International Rescue Committee (IRC); Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL)
• ICRW (International Center for Research on Women)
• Promundo
• Women’s Refugee Commission
• Equality Now
• Women for Women International
• Raising Voices
• Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
• Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE).

We are especially delighted to share this acknowledgement with Instituto Promundo, with whom Sonke serves as co-chair of the Global MenEngage Alliance www.menengage.org. We congratulate all for their excellent work.

Sonke is grateful to both the the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights and to Philanthopedia at GuideStar for their commitment to highlight work being done to end violence against women. We also thank our many community volunteers, national and international partner organisations and donors without whom it would have been impossible to do the work we do in communities across Africa to end men’s violence against women.

Contact information:

Sisonke Msimang
Sonke Board Chair
+27 82 610-6705

Dean Peacock
Executive Director
+27 72 461-7751

Desmond Lesejane
Deputy Director
+27 84 581-6306

Mbuyiselo Botha
Media and Government Relations Manager
+27 82 518-1177

About Sonke: Sonke Gender Justice Network was established in August 2006. With a full-time staff of 50 people working from offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Agincourt in Mpumalanga, Sonke works across Africa to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to support men and boys to take action to promote gender equality, prevent domestic and sexual violence and reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS. View Sonke’s 2010-2011 annual report available at: http://www.genderjustice.org.za/index.php/component/docman/doc_download/100698-sonke-gender-justice-annual-report-2010-2011?Itemid=153

Bongi Zondi does Paralegal outreach for Justice and Women (JAW) in KwaZulu-Natal. She did training for Imvulamehlo CPO members on 29 and 30 November with the aim of monitoring courts on Tues 6 December. She told us that when they arrived at the local court, they were denied permission to monitor by the person in charge; he claimed that he hadn’t received the email requesting permission and so he had no authorisation to allow the monitors in. The JAW monitors hope that they will have more luck when they visit the police station in the next few days.

Nkhumi Tshivase of Thoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme in Limpopo province encountered a similar obstacle when they attempted to monitor the local hospital: officials claimed that they had not received any request and denied the monitors permission to do their work.

Ntutu Dubela is a part of the Stop the Bus Campaign that Rape Crisis Cape Town is conducting in the Western Cape. As a Xhosa speaker, she has been part of community education and outreach, as well as monitoring of police stations. She told us of her experiences when the campaign bus visited Gaansbaai:

• the local police station was helpful and met its requirements – copies of the Sexual Offences Act were available for the local community and they had a Victim Support room available for rape survivors but that there was no on-going counselling available for rape survivors in the community.
• There was a big difference between the police’s perceptions of the community and the reality within the community –the police captain said that there was no rape in the community, but Rape Crisis counsellors found five cases during their interactions with the women there.

Ntutu said that women of the community needed much more education about their rights, especially around marital rape and incest; these problems were often settled within families, according to cultural norms but that people needed to be educated about their legal rights. The monitors were also told by the community that women felt too intimidated to report rape cases to the police because in many instances, the police were friendly with the rapists and the victims didn’t believe that they would get any justice.

Rape Crisis monitors felt that the local community needed much more education in the form of on-going workshops about cultural issues and legal rights.

The Shukumisa campaign recognises that fair treatment of rape survivors has two requirements:

1. although South Africa has mostly good laws around sexual offences, official implementation isn’t always adequate
2. people need to be educated about their basic rights and responsibilities for these laws to be effective and useful

For the 2^nd of 3 town hall meetings, HBF and TLAC have partnered with Mosaic’s Mitchell’s Plain Care Centre (MPCC) to host an event that engages local government and the community of Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, on issues of gender-based violence.  The MPCC is a one-stop centre that provides key services to survivors of gender-based violence.

Members of the media are invited to attend the event on the 9^th of December 2011. Ward Councillor Mr. Arendse represents local government at this event.

Time: 10:30 – 14:00
Venue: City of Cape Town – Youth & Family Centre.  C/o AZ Burman Drive & Kilimanjaro Roads; Tafelsig; Mitchell’s Plain.
Contact:Melissa Groenwald (Mosaic) on 021 397 3291 and 0833295119 or Claudia Lopes (HBS) on 0827808682 for more information

For example:

1. Some teenage girls who initially laid charges of rape are subsequently being charged with statutory rape (or consensual sexual penetration)
2. Teenage girls have been threatened with charges of consensual sexual penetration when they allege rape, discouraging those girls from making a complaint
3. Pregnant teenage girls are being charged with consensual sexual penetration
4. At one health clinic police officers asked for the records of all underage pregnant teenage girls so that they could consider pressing charges against the girls

These highly undesirable consequences of the law are not in children’s best interests. To address these concerns, the meeting concluded with a number of important recommendations, some of which are set out below.

• We do not support lowering the age of consent, which should remain 16 years. Adults who have sex with an underage child must always be charged with crimes. But when we are dealing with two underage children having consensual sex with one another, the approach should be different
• It should be left to parents and caregivers to deal with consensual underage sex – not the police and courts. This means we need to develop policy around consensual underage sex, rather than resorting to laws and punishment. Such policy is the responsibility of the Departments of Health, Social Development and Basic Education
• A policy response to underage sex would need to:
• strengthen the life skills curriculum taught at schools – focusing less on the mechanics of sex and more about relationships
• look at equipping very young mothers and fathers with parenting skills
• promote parenting programmes to help adults talk to their children about sex, as well as help those parents who feel unable to deal with their children’s sexuality
• ensure that supervised after-school care and recreation facilities are made widely available to children, as well as encourage employers to provide free child care facilities in workplaces. This would ensure children are not left to their own devices while their parent(s) work
• We will support the case brought by the Child Law Centre on behalf of RAPCAN and Teddy Bear Clinic which challenges the constitutionality of parts of sections 15 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act. A series of fact sheets will be developed to help people understand the legal technicalities and arguments.
• The CGE and the Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities (DWCPD) will advocate for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) to subject the Sexual Offences Act to a consultative review
• The DWCPD, along with the DoJ&CD, is establishing a task team to bring some order to the very different ages at which children are allowed to do different things (like smoke, buy condoms, or have sex) Representation of the children’s rights sector such as the Yezingane children’s network will be invited to become part of this initiative

The dialogue was a good one but it’s clear that sorting out the law is only one part of the challenge of underage sexual behavior.

• Read an article written by Jeanine Hicks (CGE) & Lisa Vetten (TLAC) on this topic in The Witness
• Read a piece written by Jen Thorpe (Rape Crisis) in M&G Thoughtleader

Key questions to be explored with local councillors include:

•  What programmes do they have in place to address the problem of violence against women? How have they engaged communities in the design and implementation of these programmes?
• What role can local councillors play in ensuring that laws such as the 1998 Domestic Violence Act and the 2007 Sexual Offences Amendment Act are effectively implemented at local level? How do councillors engage with the SAPS and community policing forums (CPFs) around the implementation of these laws?

Please join us for the SECOND OF THESE MEETINGS FOR THE GREATER SOWETO REGION on 5 December, 2011.
Time:11h00 to 13h00
Venue:Meadowlands Multipurpose Hall (2756 Meadowlands, Zone 10,next to Sinqobile Clinic)
Please RSVP to Towera Sichinga before the 3 December, 2011.

Please join us for the THIRD OF THESE MEETINGS FOR THE EKHURULENI REGION on 7 December, 2011.
Time:11h00 to 13h00
Venue:Swedish Church: Khumalo Valley next to Sontonga Mall, Katlehong
Please RSVP to Towera Sichinga before the 6 December, 2011.
Secure parking is available.

RSVP: Towera
Tel: 011 403 4267
Fax: 011 403 4275
Email: towera@tlac.org.za

A joint project of the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre and the Heinrich Boll Foundation

Commission for Gender Equality & The National Working Group on Sexual Offences

Consultative dialogue: Wednesday, 23 November 2011

South African children under the age of 16 are engaging in sex. The Medical Research Council reports that a quarter of children under the age of 13 are having sex and by the time they reach high school, 50% of learners will have had sex. Another study by the Human Sciences Research Council and Save the Children International reported that the average age of sexual debut for both boys and girls in South Africa is 14, often without their parent’s knowledge. They also noted that children under the age of seventeen in South Africa lack comprehensive knowledge of sexuality, gender, reproductive health and their rights in these arenas.

In an attempt to address the sexual abuse of children, the Sexual Offences Act of 2007 makes it illegal for anyone to engage in sex, or any other sexual conduct, with a child between the ages of 12-16. Prosecution must also be instituted where the parties are children between these ages, even if the behavior is consented to. Further, section 54 (1) of the Act, states that any person who has knowledge of that sexual offence has been committed against a child must report it to the South African Police Services.

These provisions have serious consequences for the sexual and reproductive health of young teenage girls in particular who may be deterred from seeking help or information around pregnancy, HIV and other STIs, as well as contraception and termination of pregnancy due to fear of being reported to authorities. Indeed, healthcare workers, teachers, or parents who fail to report underage children having sex could themselves be charged for not following the law.

By contrast, the Children’s Act of 2008 contains the following provisions: “Every child has a right to access to information on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of ill-health and disease, sexuality and reproduction; confidentiality regarding his/her health status and the health status of a parent, caregiver or family member, except when maintaining such confidentiality is not in the best interests of the child.” The Act further states that any child (from age 12) who obtains condoms, contraceptives or contraceptive advice in terms of this Act is entitled to confidentiality in this respect subject to section 110.

How are these conflicts in legislation to be addressed in ways that promote the best interests of children? What are the alternatives to criminalization?

This is what we found:
According to the police’s National Instructions on sexual offences, the following documents should be readily available at all stations:

•   The Sexual Offences Act;
•   The National Instructions 3/2008;
•   The station orders around sexual offences;
•   The regulations and forms related to the Sexual Offences Act (forms for the HIV testing of the rape accused and information sheets for rape survivors about PEP and HIV testing);
•   Information about hospitals providing PEP to rape survivors; and
•   A list of organizations providing services to rape survivors.

But:
– Only 32% of stations visited could produce all of the documentation stipulated by the National Instructions.
– 51% had copies of the regulations and forms related to the SOA;
– 54% had a list of organisations providing services to rape survivors;
– 61% had a list of hospitals providing PEP to rape survivors.

This means that almost half of the stations we visited do not know where to refer rape survivors for counselling and that almost half don’t have the forms that allow rape survivors to apply for the compulsory testing of alleged rapists for HIV.

Rape survivors also require specialised services that limit the potential for secondary victimisation. The stations were monitored for access to specialist detective services, the availability of private rooms for statement-taking and if there were NGOs/CBOs/volunteers available to provide support to the victims. We found:
– 63% of stations had access to specialist detectives;
– 60% of stations had a separate building operating as a VSC but others contained VECs housed within the main station building;
– 90% of stations had NGOs/CBOs/ volunteers available to support victims.

Unfortunately few stations had easy access to sign language interpreters to help Deaf victims and just as few stations knew how to help cognitively impaired victims. Stations also did not know where to refer lesbian, gay or transsexual victims for further help.

Our monitoring shows that access to good police services is still something of a lottery; rape survivors are not guaranteed good help at every police station. During the 16 Days the Shukumisa Campaign will be monitoring again to see what has improved in the last year and will also be holding meetings in communities to discuss how the necessary improvements can be made to policing services.