Human Rights & Gender Justice

The Unexceptional Parent is a short documentary that offers an honest and affirming look into the lived experiences of South African parents of transgender children.

An open letter to the President of South Africa by our partner, Her Rights Initiative, calling for justice and redress for the forced and coerced sterilisation of 85 HIV positive women in South Africa's public hospitals.

Uthingo Network and other CSO’s are concerned about the ongoing bullying and discrimination against queer learners in South African schools. Read the joint open letter to Minister of Basic Education to create accountable and queer-affirming school environments.

The work of our partners Ubuntu Women and Sisterhood Movement was recently featured in Feminist Africa's latest journal,  African Women's Lives in the Time of a Pandemic. Here they document their tireless work addressing the many challenges that the pandemic presented in the lives of rural communities of the Western Cape. We are proud to have supported some of this work.

In celebration of Pride Month, we’re profiling one of our newest partners, Equal Namibia, a youth movement for equality, led by activists and community organizers, supported by a coalition of individuals and civil society organizations committed to realizing equality and fundamental civil rights for LGBTQ+ persons in Namibia.

HBF's new research reveals the Department of Social Development’s dependence on NGO shelters during Covid-19, and their tendency not to provide adequate support and funding despite this reliance, writes the Daily Maverick.

On 2 December 2021, the Heinrich Böll Foundation launched its second research brief associated to its “Care and Support in a Time of Epidemic" research project. The project is dedicated to better understanding how COVID-19, and the subsequent implementation of lockdown in South Africa on 27 March 2020 has impacted on domestic violence in the country.

What was it like to provide shelter to victims of gender-based violence during lockdown? How did shelters cope? How full were they? Who came through to help during this time of crisis? How did government fare in this regard? Join us tomorrow and find out.