Human Rights & Gender Justice

While xenophobia may seem far removed from racial tensions, poverty, and public protest, how we understand and address these concerns is inseparable from the bias and violence against outsiders. At the root of these tensions is a discourse of citizenship and transformation that insists – often implicitly – on the categorization of people into a relatively homogenous, entitled majority and those for whom, by virtue of their experience, origins, or occupation, political recognition comes only by demonstrating their utility to a true and deserving political community. By Loren Landau

Against the backdrop of the pervasive culture of violence in South Africa, ‘it is ironic that xenophobia has been represented as something abnormal or pathological. Xenophobia is a form of violence and violence is the norm in South Africa.

In consideration of the number of women that are being unfairly discriminated against in terms of the City’s practice to transfer immovable property into the names of the male spouse in pursuance of an old policy, the Women's Legal Centre, funded by Heinrich Boell Stiftung, challenged this in the Western Cape High Court.

We need to understand what it means to be heterosexual as well as homosexual, and that our sexualities affect whether we live or die - During this 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the 15+year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform, the Coalition of African Lesbians (“CAL”) reinforces that:

While the issue of a Women’s Ministry was raised during the transitional phase it was never considered a viable option for the following reasons: limited success in terms of policy impact both in the West and in developing countries, and a dumping ground for all issues dealing with women.

In this publication, the Heinrich Böll Foundation presents some of its experiences, both setbacks and successes. It is just a small sample of HBS' work all over the world.  HBS is very much aware that its political and financial contributions are often only part of a larger network; yet its work does make a difference – for more gender justice.

This article attempts an analysis of Women’s Ministries (structures on the level of the executive) that are normally tasked with the implementation of policy and legislation. It does so by looking at the experience of Women’s Ministries in the north, as well as in Africa. It also reflects on the more recent histories in the north of the dismantling of gender machineries as a consequence of gender mainstreaming.

Many women are evicted from their homes by their husbands, partners, family members or the owners of their homes. Often, women are evicted with their children and do not have anywhere else to live. The Women's Legal Centre, therefore, created this simplified guide to assist women in learning about their legal rights to housing and their rights in terms of evictions.

The need to develop guidelines on reporting under the Women's Protocol is urgent. In developing these guidelines, lessons from the exiting guidelines should be incorporated. Emphasis should be placed on a workable set of guidelines that do not overburden states, and take into account their existing reporting obligations.

Gender Mainstreaming needs to be taken more seriously and a topic for society as a whole. Besides legal frameworks, we need bottom-up policies, a strengthening of initiatives that target equality and more men on board to fundamentally change the relationship between the genders. By Barbara Unmüßig