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Kolping Mbumba, the the director of operations at Heroes Academy. His story, of loss, adaptation and survival, makes him relatable to the boys. Photo: Supplied
CAPE TOWN

Mentorship, masculinity and change: A township programme rewriting boys’ futures

A Cape Town NGO, Heroes Academy, is using mentorship, socio-emotional learning and life skills to reshape boys’ understanding of masculinity and help prevent gender-based…

  • Rahima Essop
8 min read
SAPS already recognises the digital terrain but recognition must evolve into localised practice. Photo Delwyn Verasamy
ASSAULTS

Crime is increasingly detected online but policing remains offline

Being digitally present is a form of accountability: it signals that the station is not hiding behind central bureaucracy when communities are scared. It also enhances…

  • Lesedi Senamele Matlala
9 min read
Acting Minister of Police, Professor Firoz Cachalia. Photo: GCIS
16 DAYS OF NO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

GBV pandemic at our doorstep

Violence against women has become one of the most pervasive public health emergencies in modern history

  • Marlan Padayachee
7 min read
Black power: Women throughout the country – including some men – took to the streets in a lie-down protest against femicide and gender-based violence, which took place last Friday. They were dressed in black, and bursts of purple.
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

Confronting our innate perceptions to tackle gender-based violence

We cannot treat GBV only at its point of eruption. We must go upstream to the formation of identity and gender norms. This means funding and institutionalising programmes that…

  • Natasha Mboyisa
7 min read
One in every five girls across sub-Saharan Africa has experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18 . Photo: File
GBV

Gender-based violence a cycle of silence, outrage and forgotten names

We need to ensure gender-based violence stays on the agenda beyond the headlines and the hashtags during Women’s Month

  • Lulama Madyaka
4 min read
Diversity, equity and inclusion threatens a dominant narrative — whiteness, heterosexuality, patriarchy
A RACE TO HEAL

Diversity, equity and inclusion kills: Why we need to stop advocating for it

If power and accountability remain unchanged, inclusion efforts do not create equity — they reinforce vulnerability

  • Sorayah Nair
8 min read
Browned off: R&B star Chris Brown appears in court in Los Angeles in 2014 after assaulting singer Rihanna, with whom he was in a relationship. Photo: Lucy Nicholson-Pool/Getty Images
AMERICAN RNB

Chris Brown: Should home affairs have acted?

The US musician, who has a history of violence against women, is set to perform in Johannesburg

  • Aarti Bhana
7 min read
During the global 16 days of activism campaign against violence against women and children, South African shelters for such victims fear a lack of funding could lead to many of them returning to their abusers or living on the streets.
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM

Women’s shelters face closure over government funding shortage

Shelters also worry about a repeat of the Life Esidemeni tragedy if the government does not provide adequate funding to fill the skills gap of workers

  • Umamah Bakharia
6 min read
16DAYSOFACTIVISM

Nedbank takes a bold stand against financial abuse: adverts to carry warning labels as the bank collaborates with POWA for 16 Days of Activism

From November 25 to December 10, Nedbank will feature a stark warning strip on its TV, radio, print, and online adverts as part of its campaign in support of 16 Days of Activism

  • Nedbank
5 min read
The Svri Opening Plenary Panel.
8TH SEXUAL VIOLENCE RESEARCH INITIATIVE FORUM

SVRI Forum 2024: From crisis to change

Survivor-leaders call for global action against GBV

  • Jamaine Krige
4 min read
Advocate Shamila Batohi addresses the Private Sector Symposium against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. File photo
ILO

PSC launched to combat workplace GBVH 

The Private Sector Coalition brings SA businesses together to fight the scourge of gender-based violence and harassment

  • Derek Davey
15 min read
FEMICIDE

Austerity is a silent war on survivors of gender-based violence

The support systems that GBV survivors depend on are being damaged by cost cuts, making it harder for them to escape violence and seek justice

  • Kerryn Rehse
4 min read
Protesters march against gender-based violence, organised by several NGO?s and organisations at the JSE in Sandton on 13 September 2019 in Sandton after the murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana. (Photo by Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
ASSAULT

In South Africa, women are always afraid of attacks

Some women spoke to the Mail & Guardian about frequently looking over their shoulder in fear of danger.

  • Lyse Comins
  • Ozayr Patel
  • Aarti Bhana
  • Umamah Bakharia
7 min read
Stop killing us: Five times as many South African women are killed by intimate partners than the global average; women with disabilities are 10 times more vulnerable. Photo Sharon Seretlo/Getty Images
ABUSE

Gender-based violence affects one in three women regardless of income group

A report by the Tears Foundation has highlighted that women don’t report cases to the police and call for help from work, emphasising the need for personal, confidential services

  • Lyse Comins
4 min read
Justice ministry stands by its opposition to constitutional challenge to Sexual Offences Act
CALS

Justice ministry stands by its opposition to constitutional challenge to Sexual Offences Act

The applicants asked for the definition of consent in the Act to be declared unconstitutional

  • Umamah Bakharia
5 min read
AFRICAN WOMEN

Working to Materialise African Women’s Agency 

Reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market are the main areas of focus

  • Marion Smith
3 min read
The lived reality for women in South Africa is they get turned away at our police stations. They are told that domestic violence is a family matter. They are sent from one office to another. If they do actually get someone willing to open their case, the case files disappear into delay
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM

GBV a ‘painful indictment on SA society’

According to the police, 53 900 South Africans have reported being victims of a sexual offences in 2022 and 2023 This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers.…

  • Umamah Bakharia
1 min read
ABSENT FATHERS

No boy is born an abuser: GBV can be eradicated before it starts

More than 300 000 men have learnt how to be good men, fathers, mentors, and role models through Father A Nation’s programmes

  • Father A Nation
4 min read
Healing greens: Jeanette Sera and Itumeleng Moloko of Powa together with Busi Wawa (centre), the Food & Trees for Africa facilitator, at the vegetable garden in Winterveld where 28 GBV survivors are learning permaculture farming skills. Photo: © French Embassy, 2022
FARMING

Abused women benefit from food gardening skills

The French Embassy and Food & Trees for Africa have helped GBV survivors establish a food garden in the North west Province

  • Thandiwe McCloy
4 min read
At least 66% of recent cases were performed by healthcare professionals, in an attempt to legitimise the practice. (David Harrison)
ENOCH GODONGWANA

Why civil society has agreed to attend another presidential summit on gender-based violence

So far, the government has merely passed the buck and failed dismally to create any coordinated response to the issue.

  • Sibongile Ndashe
18 min read