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A group of Toronto protesters took to the streets earlier this year in response to controversial comments made by police constable Michael Sanguinetti on a routine visit to advise students at Osgoode Hall Law School on personal safety. “Women,” he said, “should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised.” His comments, exposing yet again the archaic view that women will undoubtedly invite sexual abuse if they dress in provocative clothing, is all to the good in encouraging debate. The sensationalism around the worldwide SlutWalks organised from a position of outrage at Sanguinetti’s words, with a SlutWalk held in Cape Town, brings the matter of sexual violation and rape squarely back into the realm of public scrutiny as a burning social issue.
Sunday Times editor Ray Hartley's explanation about his newspaper's controversial front page has left users of social networks as skeptical as ever. South Africans on Twitter and Facebook erupted into a small outcry over an outdated image of a "Facebook racist". Last Sunday the paper published an image of a white man holding a rifle and kneeling next to the body of a young black child. The story details how the Hawks have launched an investigation into the posting of a racist photograph on a Facebook profile also included comment from two Cabinet ministers and several children's rights organisations, condemning the image. The picture was posted on the profile of user "Eugene TerrorBlanche" -- a reference to slain white supremacist Eugene Terre'Blanche.
On August 17, 2011 Women’sNet in partnership with Media Monitoring Africa held a seminar on the topic: When Technology Hurts: How Technology is Changing Experiences of Violence. The seminar saw a number of stakeholders, government, NGOs, media converge to Newtown, Johannesburg where the event was held. Women’sNet has been doing work looking at the role that technology play in women’s rights and gender equality; and has observed in the past years a growing trend where technology is implicated in acts of violence, especially in perpetrating violence against women. “As a response and through our project ‘TAKE BACK THE TECH’ we decided to lead a public dialogue together with MMA to get different stakeholders talking on”, elaborated Lerato Legoabe, Women’sNet co-Director. The seminar was aimed at getting different stakeholders to draw on opportunities where they have used technology in the fight against gender-based violence as a start point to challenge the problem, added Legoabe.
The Congress of the People’s women’s movement wants 'the precautionary suspension' of a party MP arrested for alleged rape. “The Congress of the People women’s movement is seriously concerned about the lack of pro-active action on a senior member who was recently arrested for rape,” spokeswoman Nozipho Ndlela said in a statement. “A COPE MP was arrested on August 6 on charges of rape and brandishing a firearm in a drunken state, among others, and subsequently released on the eve of Women’s Day,” she said.
We cannot ignore the rape of women, as it will kill our entire society in the end, writes Margie Orford. Rape Crisis is an organisation founded 35 years ago in the Western Cape to counsel rape survivors and to support them through a hostile court system.
Thirty-five years is a long time to have a crisis, which is defined as a "dangerous or worrying time, a critical moment, a turning point in a disease". Why do women still need the same counselling, the same support in an adversarial court system, but in ever-increasing numbers? Our post-1994 constitution affords women full and equal rights. There has been reform in legislation - the Sexual Offences Act, for example - and a few police stations and hospitals have specially trained staff. So what is it that women want? That was the question which perplexed Sigmund Freud, a doctor who cared deeply about his patients. Famously, Freud failed to answer his own question.
The Africa Craft Trust, in cooperation with Women's Net and Open Africa, is implementing a Mobile Technology for Craft Enterprise Development Programme that will run from 2011 to 2013 in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal. The programme seeks to assist rural craft entrepreneurs to grow their business by using mobile phones and other information and communication technologies.
According to the Africa Craft Trust, the programme will be rolled out in two phases. It says phase one involves research and development. “Research and community involvement in the three provinces has already been completed and by 2012, the programme will have completed the development of new mobile phone software, combining a financial management tool, costing and pricing tool, and buyer's database storage system,” it says. It notes that added features include an SMS service that will link the users to up-to-date information relevant to their businesses, a networking and chat-room space for craft entrepreneurs, and marketing links on the Open Africa tourist routes.
Victims of cyberstalking suffer more than victims of 'traditional' bullying, research shows.The inability to escape from the 24 hour online world and the public nature of threats posted on the internet make being bullied electronically more intense, it was claimed. The research also found that four out of ten women have suffered electronic harassment after dating online and 20 per cent of online stalkers use social networking to stalk their victims.
The women of Tshwane are set to march to the Union Buildings on Tuesday in honour of the 1956 women who marched against pass laws.
City of Tshwane Mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, said the march would serve as a way of teaching the youth about the historic 1956 march.
In support of Women's Month, the City has set aside funds to support women's month activities. Ramokgopa said the City had plans to honour women who were at the forefront during the march.
Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Lulu Xingwana said that the economic empowerment of women will take centre stage during Women's Month. Speaking at the launch of this year's National Women's Month, at the Union Buildings, Pretoria, yesterday, Xingwana said the theme: " Working together to enhance women's opportunities to economic empowerment " would be the highlight of the month-long celebration. The minister said the month would be used to canvass for half of the 5million jobs that are to be created in the next 10 years - according to President Jacob Zuma, speaking in February, as part of his R9-billion job-creation fund - to be ear-marked for women.
Economic empowerment for South African women will be the focal point of this year's annual Women's Month celebrations. Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, unveiled the 2011 Women's Month programme on Sunday in Pretoria. "We will use Women's Month to highlight the economic empowerment of women as a critical element of success for South Africa's efforts to achieve the targets on economic growth, including the creation of five million jobs within the next 10 years, as outlined in the New Growth Plan. "We agreed that women economic empowerment should be the main focus of this Women's Month celebrations for this year," she said. The programme emphasises the role of women as equal partners in the economic, social and cultural development of society, as well as ending economic marginalisation of women. The highlight of the month is the observation of the annual National Women's Day on 9 August and this year, it will be celebrated under the theme, 'Working together to enhance women's opportunities to economic empowerment.'
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Governments, especially in Africa, need to have strong accountability measures in place in order to effectively reach women in rural areas through gender responsive budgeting. This was one of the recommendations in the Global Call for Action plan drawn up at the end of an international high-level meeting on gender responsive budgeting held in Kigali from 26 to 28 Jul. The meeting was held in conjunction with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (U.N. Women) and the European Union. Delegates also agreed that there was a need to strengthen the skills, competencies and abilities of local government leaders. In addition, the enhancement of national statistical systems was needed to provide accurate data about various aspects of gender. The document, which is yet to be released, also said that the livelihood of marginalised women in rural areas needed to be improved by increasing their access to land ownership and property rights.
Deputy minister of police Makhotso Sotyu visited schools in the Northern Cape for two days to kick off a crime and youth mobilisation campaign. According to the MEC for transport, safety and liaison Patrick Mabilo, this programme was the initiative of his department and Youth Against Crime in the province: “The objective of this programme is to address challenges facing pupils at their school environment, such as internet safety, school violence, gender-based violence, alcohol and drug abuse.” He said the programme was informed by a report by the South African Human Rights Commission on school-based violence. “This report was a result of public hearings in schools. These hearings were conducted after the SAHRC received numerous complaints regarding school-based violence, which impedes pupils and teachers from exercising their rights to work in a safe and violence-free environment,” said Mabilo.
The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) understands the importance of delivering educational services to rural and underserviced areas using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). ISPA is still finding that there is a huge need for affordable broadband services accessible from these schools. Furthermore, according to ISPA’s Regulatory Advisor, Dominic Cull, there remains a massive amount of work to be done. “We are moving from an access challenge to an affordability challenge. The role of the Universal Service Agency of SA (USAASA) and the Universal Service Access Fund (USAF) in meeting this challenge remain critical,” he says. “Bearing in mind the continued lack of affordable accessibility, it is disappointing that there does not appear to be any clear plan as to how these entities are meant to function. The current status of USAASA and the disbursement of funds from the USAF is certainly neither what it should be nor what we expected,” he says.