scholarly journals The complex link between gendered violence and HIV/AIDS: black women in South Africa

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Blanchette
Author(s):  
Maureen Mswela

South Africa has not escaped the rising prevalence and severe impact of HIV/AIDS in relation to women. From an economic and social vantage point, the HIV/AIDS epidemic effects women the hardest, with underprivileged black women the most susceptible to the virus. The theoretical framework of this paper focuses on the intersection between HIV/AIDS, gender inequality and gender violence, and more specifically on certain cultural practices and customs that contribute towards and exacerbate women’s subordination and inequality, which in turn increase women’s exposure to HIV infection. Relevant to this focus is inevitably an analysis of the perceived threats to specific fundamental human rights as a result of some of the entrenched practices that continue to reinforce women’s subordinate position in society, aggravated by the high incidence of gender violence.


2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian C. Müller ◽  
Sunette Pienaar

Black women in previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa carry the burden of triple oppression: (a) the social engineering policies synonymous with apartheid have marginalised women economically and socially; (b) patriarchy, embedded in cultural and religious discourses, has rendered women voiceless and powerless and (c) HIV/AIDS targets the most vulnerable: women and children. The authors describe a research experience in Atteridgeville, a historically disadvantaged community in South Africa, with a family of women infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS, about their experiences of care and or the lack thereof. A narrative approach offers useful ideas to facilitate a process in which African women in historically challenged communities can speak out about their experiences of care and or the lack of care.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryanne N. Williams ◽  
Anita McGruder-Johnson

Politeia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina Palm

In recent years, protests against campus rape culture at South African higher education institutions have attracted public attention. Despite strong constitutional provisions, a culture of sexual and gendered violence remains endemic in South Africa. In the light of the gap between legal forms and social norms, this article argues for building socio-political resistance from below that starts with exploring the lived experiences of young women. It therefore introduces the voice of one ordinary student who inhabits these spaces. She highlights the need for attention to be paid to the gendered social norms that underpin this culture of sexual violence, the possibilities of engaging men as allies and the important but ambiguous role of the Christian religion. Research suggests that bystanders like her can become important agents of change. The article concludes that the connections between hierarchical gender norms, religious formation and rape culture need further empirical engagement in South Africa if their power-laden roots are to be disrupted and reimagined.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Snodgrass

This article explores the complexities of gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates the socio-political issues at the intersection of class, ‘race’ and gender, which impact South African women. Gender equality is up against a powerful enemy in societies with strong patriarchal traditions such as South Africa, where women of all ‘races’ and cultures have been oppressed, exploited and kept in positions of subservience for generations. In South Africa, where sexism and racism intersect, black women as a group have suffered the major brunt of this discrimination and are at the receiving end of extreme violence. South Africa’s gender-based violence is fuelled historically by the ideologies of apartheid (racism) and patriarchy (sexism), which are symbiotically premised on systemic humiliation that devalues and debases whole groups of people and renders them inferior. It is further argued that the current neo-patriarchal backlash in South Africa foments and sustains the subjugation of women and casts them as both victims and perpetuators of pervasive patriarchal values.


Author(s):  
Philippe Denis

This article focuses on working with children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Arica. In the early years of the AIDS epidemic, relief organizations focused their efforts on the material needs of children, but their psychological and emotional needs are no less important. Recognizing this, the Sinomlando Centre for Oral History and Memory Work in Africa, a research and community development center located at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Pietermaritzburg South Africa, has pioneered a model of psychosocial intervention for children in grief—particularly but not exclusively in the context of HIV/AIDS. This model uses the methodology of oral history in a novel manner, combined with other techniques such as life story work and narrative therapy. During the early years of the project, the model followed for the family visits was the oral history interview. A discussion on caregiver as the narrator and skills required in memory work especially in these cases concludes this article.


Author(s):  
Motlhatlego Dennis Matotoka ◽  
Kolawole Olusola Odeku

Black African women in South Africa are poorly represented at managerial levels in the South African private sector since the advent of democracy. Their exclusion at these occupational levels persists despite the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) requiring that the private sector must ensure that all occupational levels are equitably represented and reflects the demographics of South Africa. The South African private sector demonstrates its lack of commitment to proliferating black African women into managerial positions by deliberately engaging in race-based recruitment and failing to develop and promote suitably qualified women into managerial positions. As such, the private sector is failing to create upward mobility for black African women to break the glass ceiling. The EEA requires the private sector to apply affirmative action measures in order to achieve equity in the workplace. It is submitted that since 1998, the private sector has been provided with an opportunity to set it own targets in order to achieve equity. However, 22 years later, black African women are still excluded in key managerial positions. However, the EEA does not specifically impose penalties if the private sector fails to achieve the set targets.This approach has failed to increase the representation of black women in managerial positions. However, the EEA does not specifically impose penalties if the private sector fails to achieve the set targets. Whilst this approach seeks to afford the private sector importunity to set its own target, this approach has failed to increase the representation of black women in managerial positions. Employing black African women in managerial levels enhances their skills and increases their prospects to promotions and assuming further leadership roles in the private sector. This paper seeks to show that the progression of black African women requires South Africa to adopt a quota system without flexibility that will result in the private sector being compelled to appoint suitably qualified black African women in managerial levels.


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