scholarly journals Policing of sex work in South Africa: The positive policing partnership approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 80-85
Author(s):  
Donna Maree Evans ◽  
Marlise L. Richter ◽  
Munyaradazi I. Katumba
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
South African ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Police Training ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
The South ◽  
Sex Worker

All aspects of sex work are criminalized in South Africa. Due to their marginalized position in society, sex workers are often the target of police violence and human rights violations, all of which have far-reaching implications for public health. Existing complaint mechanisms and police oversight structures rarely ensure accountability for sex worker human rights violations. In 2016, various sex work sector stakeholders and allied civil society members partnered in a collaborative project to document the operational policing challenges and record a contemporary evidence base of sex worker rights violations by law enforcement. The findings demonstrated that violation of sex worker human rights is systemic, pervasive, and entrenched. The project approach helped catalyze a move away from more traditionally adversarial approaches, withstakeholders from the South African sex work sector forming the Positive Policing Partnership (PPP) as an advocacy vehicle to drive positive, solution-focused engagement on the operational policing challenges. The PPP focuses on collaboration, innovative partnerships, and capacity building. Concurrently, the COC Netherlands Dignity, Diversity and Policing project has successfully embedded a rights-based police training curriculum in partnership with the South African Police Service (SAPS). These projects employ different strategies and frameworks to catalyze positive change and to support effective engagement between the sex work sector, law enforcement, and government. This article provides a snapshot of the formation, activities and progress of these projects to date, teamed with a summary of key strategies and learnings.

scholarly journals The Continued Criminality of Selling Sex: A Trajectory of South African Sex Work Law Reform

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Amanda Spies
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Sex Work Policy ◽  
Rights Discourse

Abstract This article explores the regulation of sex work in South Africa and follows the trajectory of the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) in investigating whether sex work should be decriminalized. The legal regulation of sex work is a hotly contested topic. South Africa currently criminalizes the selling and buying of sex, but policy reform has been on the cards since the SALRC launched its project on the topic in the early 2000s. As most sex work policy responses are grounded in feminist theory, the article analyses the main theoretical ideologies and questions the influence of these ideologies in structuring sex work law reform in the South African context. The author calls for a more inclusive understanding of feminism and sex work, and the need to acknowledge the importance of rights discourse in furthering political growth and protecting sex workers’ constitutional rights.

scholarly journals Human rights violations and smoking status among South African adults enrolled in the South Africa Stress and Health (SASH) study

2014 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Dutra ◽  
David R. Williams ◽  
Jhumka Gupta ◽  
Ichiro Kawachi ◽  
Cassandra A. Okechukwu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
The South ◽  
Stress And Health

Foreigners' Rights to Work and Fair Labour Practices in South Africa: A Review of the South African Labour Legislation and Jurisprudence

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Mangu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Legislation And Jurisprudence ◽  
Foreign Nationals ◽  
Lay Persons ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Labour Legislation

After several decades of apartheid rule, which denied human rights to the majority of the population on the ground of race and came to be regarded as a crime against humanity, South Africa adopted its first democratic Constitution in the early 1990s. The 1996 Constitution, which succeeded the 1993 interim Constitution, is considered one of the most progressive in the world. In its founding provisions, it states that South Africa is a democratic state founded on human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution enshrines fundamental human rights in a justiciable Bill of Rights as a cornerstone of democracy. Unfortunately, in the eyes of a number of politicians, officials and lay-persons, the rights in the Bill of Rights accrue to South African citizens only. Xenophobia, which has been rampant since the end of apartheid, seems to support the idea that foreigners should not enjoy these rights. Foreign nationals have often been accused of posing a threat to South African citizens with regard to employment opportunities. In light of the South African legislation and jurisprudence, this article affirms the position of the South African labour law that foreign nationals are indeed protected by the Constitution and entitled to rights in the Bill of Rights, including the rights to work and fair labour practices.

scholarly journals SOME COMMENTS ON WATER RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
N Gabru
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Basic Part ◽  
The Right

Human life, as with all animal and plant life on the planet, is dependant upon fresh water. Water is not only needed to grow food, generate power and run industries, but it is also needed as a basic part of human life. Human dependency upon water is evident through history, which illustrates that human settlements have been closely linked to the availability and supply of fresh water. Access to the limited water resources in South Africa has been historically dominated by those with access to land and economic power, as a result of which the majority of South Africans have struggled to secure the right to water. Apartheid era legislation governing water did not discriminate directly on the grounds of race, but the racial imbalance in ownership of land resulted in the disproportionate denial to black people of the right to water. Beyond racial categorisations, the rural and poor urban populations were traditionally especially vulnerable in terms of the access to the right.  The enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, brought the South African legal system into a new era, by including a bill of fundamental human rights (Bill of Rights). The Bill of Rights makes provision for limited socio-economic rights. Besides making provision for these human rights, the Constitution also makes provision for the establishment of state institutions supporting constitutional democracy.  The Constitution has been in operation since May 1996. At this stage, it is important to take stock and measure the success of the implementation of these socio-economic rights. This assessment is important in more ways than one, especially in the light of the fact that many lawyers argued strongly against 1/2the inclusion of the second and third generation of human rights in a Bill of Rights. The argument was that these rights are not enforceable in a court of law and that they would create unnecessary expectations of food, shelter, health, water and the like; and that a clear distinction should be made between first generation and other rights, as well as the relationship of these rights to one another. It should be noted that there are many lawyers and non-lawyers who maintained that in order to confront poverty, brought about by the legacy of apartheid, the socio-economic rights should be included in a Bill of Rights. The inclusion of section 27 of the 1996 Constitution has granted each South African the right to have access to sufficient food and water and has resulted in the rare opportunity for South Africa to reform its water laws completely. It has resulted in the enactment of the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 and the National Water Act 36 of 1998.In this paper the difference between first and second generation rights will be discussed. The justiciability of socio-economic rights also warrants an explanation before the constitutional implications related to water are briefly examined. Then the right to water in international and comparative law will be discussed, followed by a consideration of the South African approach to water and finally, a few concluding remarks will be made.

scholarly journals Raamwerkwetgewing ter Verwesenliking van die Reg op Toegang tot Voldoende Voedsel

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Anél Terblanche ◽  
Gerrit Pienaar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Food Security ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
Sufficient Food

Various South African government reports list food security as a development priority. Despite this prioritisation and despite the fact that South Africa is currently food self-sufficient, ongoing food shortages remain a daily reality for approximately 35 percent of the South African population. The government's commitment to food security to date of writing this contribution manifests in related policies, strategies, programmes and sectoral legislation with the focus on food production, distribution, safety and assistance. A paradigm shift in the international food security debate was encouraged during 2009, namely to base food security initiatives on the right to sufficient food. During a 2011 visit to South Africa, the Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food of the United Nations, accordingly confirmed that a human rights-based approach to food security is necessary in the South African legal and policy framework in order to address the huge disparities in terms of food security (especially concerning geography, gender and race). A human rights-based approach to food security will add dimensions of dignity, transparency, accountability, participation and empowerment to food security initiatives. The achievement of food security is further seen as the realisation of existing rights, notably the right of access to sufficient food. The right of access to sufficient food, as entrenched in section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 will accordingly play a central role within a human rights-based approach to food security. Section 27(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 qualifies section 27(1)(b) by requiring the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of the section 27(1) rights. The South African government's commitment to food security, as already mentioned, currently manifests in related policies, strategies and programmes, which initiatives will qualify as other measures as referred to in section 27(2) mentioned above. This contribution, however, aims to elucidate the constitutional duty to take reasonable legislative measures as required by section 27(2) within the wider context of food security. This contribution is more specifically confined to the ways in which a human rights-based approach to food security can be accommodated in a proposed framework law as a national legislative measures. Several underlying and foundational themes are addressed in this contribution, amongst others: (a) the relationship between food security and the right of access to sufficient food; (b) food security as a developmental goal; and (c) the increasing trend to apply a human rights-based approach to development initiatives in general, but also to food security.

scholarly journals A South African perspective on mutual legal assistance and extradition in a globalized world

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Murdoch Watney
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
South African ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Assistance ◽  
The South ◽  
Mutual Legal Assistance ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Criminal Conduct ◽  
Globalized World

This contribution focuses on the modalities of mutual legal assistance and extradition from a South African perspective. The question is posed whether South Africa has succeeded to establish the required framework as a fully fledged member of the international community to make a positive contribution in the fields of mutual legal assistance and extradition subsequent to its international political isolation during the apartheid era. Although the international community derives substantial benefit from a borderless global world, it has as a result also to deal with the negative impact of globalization on international crime. Physical and/or electronic crimes are increasingly committed across borders and may be described as borderless, but law enforcement (combating, investigation and prosecution of crime) is still very much confined to the borders of a state. Criminal networks have taken advantage of the opportunities resulting from the dramatic changes in world politics, business, technology, communications and the explosion in international travel and effectively utilize these opportunities to avoid and hamper law enforcement investigations. As a sovereign state has control over its own territory it also implies that states should not interfere with each other’s domestic affairs. The correct and acceptable procedure would be for a state (requesting state) to apply to another state (requested state) for co-operation in the form of mutual legal assistance regarding the gathering of evidence and/or extradition of the perpetrator. Co-operation between states are governed by public international law between the requesting and requested state and the domestic law of the requested state. The South African legislature has increasingly provided for extraterritorial jurisdiction of South African courts in respect of organized crime and terrorism. It does however appear that existing criminal justice responses are experiencing challenges to meet the demands of sophisticated international criminal conduct. Mutual legal assistance and extradition provisions may show that the world is becoming smaller for fugitives and criminals, but the processes are far from expeditious and seamless. An overview of the South African law pertaining to mutual legal assistance and extradition indicates that the South African legislative framework and policies as well as international treaties make sufficient provision to render international assistance in respect of mutual legal assistance and extradition. The role of the courts in upholding the rule of law and protecting the constitutionally enshrined bill of rights, is indicative of the important function that the judiciary fulfills in this regard. It is important that extradition is not only seen as the function of the executive as it also involves the judiciary. It appears that South Africa has displayed the necessary commitment to normalize its international position since 1994 and to fulfill its obligations in a globalized world by reaching across borders in an attempt to address international criminal conduct.

scholarly journals Reconciliation and psychiatry in South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-64
Author(s):  
Bernard Janse van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Form Part

Although psychiatrists did not form part of the structures of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa (SPSA) at the time did make a submission. Since then, the local association of psychiatrists has been reconstituted as the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP). Psychiatry and psychiatrists may have to extend their activities beyond rehabilitation and restoration, to include endeavours to prevent future violations of human rights.

Political Violence in South Africa: The Role of Youth

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-29
Author(s):  
Saths Cooper
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The South ◽  
The Core

A meaningful understanding of the causes of political violence in South Africa and youth’s role in its dénouement must consider some of the historical background to the national struggle for human rights and youth’s specific involvement thereof. The phenomenon of adolescent marchers and activists who characterized the resistance to Apartheid over the last decade has had sequelae and antecedents that reflect the core of the South African dilemma.

Toward the Truth About the Trc: a Response To Key Moral Criticisms of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelm J. Verwoerd
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
South African ◽  
Retributive Justice ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Human Community ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation

AbstractIn this article the 'genre' of the TRC Report is clarified in order to answer some of the criticisms of the TRC. It is argued that the TRC conceptualised its role as the promotion of restorative justice rather than retributive justice. Justice and reconciliation is served not by isolating perpetrators of gross human rights violations but by restoring human community. Different aspects of the effects of the TRC's work are considered, namely reconciliation, amnesty and forgiveness Justice-based and reconciliation-based criticisms of the TRC are answered.

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