Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Colonial Hotspots: Reflecting On My Conditional Citizenship As A ‘Coloured’ [Woman] In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Danille Arendse

Journal of International Women's Studies

The prevailing geopolitical situation has perpetuated epistemic and ontological violence against the citizens of Africa. This indicates that geopolitics have an impact on socio-spatial relations and human interactions that may affect the citizenship of oppressed persons. This paper contains reflections on the conditional citizenship of the author, who is legally identified as a Coloured [woman] in post-Apartheid South Africa. The racial classification Coloured [women], which was created during Apartheid, remains a divisive racial category in post-Apartheid South Africa, one that preserves stereotypes and negative connotations. The author draws the reader’s attention to her geographical location as a specific site of …

Susceptible Lives: Gender-Based Violence, Young Lesbian Women And Hiv Risk In A Rural Community In South Africa, Johannes N. Mampane

Journal of International Women's Studies

In South Africa, as in many parts of the world, lesbian women are still perceived to be immune from the risk of contracting HIV as compared to heterosexual women. However, the South African media has been inundated with reports on the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) perpetrated against lesbian women and their consequent risk of acquiring HIV as a result of being raped (or gang raped). As a result of this situation, this study was conducted in March to July 2015 to explore and describe the experiences of young lesbian women regarding their susceptibility to GBV and HIV in a …

Gendered Narratives Relating To Women In The Information Technology Department Of A South African Organisation, Errolyn Long

Journal of International Women's Studies

In South Africa, there is an underrepresentation of women in senior management positions and industries requiring “masculine”-typed duties. The study aimed to explore the gendered narratives relating to women in the Information Technology (IT) Department of a South African organisation using a feminist interpretivist framework. A qualitative design informed by feminist methodology and narrative inquiry outlined by Gilligan et al. (2003) was used for this study. Two females and four male participants participated in the study and data collection involved in-depth semi-structured interviews. The Gillian et al. (2003) approach of data analysis was used (Listening Guide). The listening guide assisted …

Community Radio, Women And Family Development Issues In South Africa: An Experiential Study, Choja Oduaran, Okorie Nelson

Journal of International Women's Studies

In South Africa, community radio outlets have adopted the use of indigenous languages to address local issues affecting women and familydevelopment. This study examined how community radio give attention to the perspectives of women on family development issues in South Africa. Furthermore, this study examined the types and direction of radio frames, in the area of indigenous language usage and community radio broadcasting. This study was anchored in framing theory to understand how community radio promotes women’s rights and family development issues. The method adopted for this study was content analysis, which examined the manifest content of radio messages on …

Prosecuting Violence Against Women In South African Courts: A Reflection Of The Legal Culture From An Afrocentric Perspective, Ramadimetja S. Mogale, Solina Richter

Journal of International Women's Studies

Introduction: The first author participated in a course related to critical feminist schools of thought while pursuing her doctoral program. Engaging with a scholarly community of feminist researchers, she gained multi-layered understandings and deeper insights on ways of knowing through the perspectives of the critical feminist schools of thought in the feminist movement. Unlike other feminist schools of thought, Afrocentric feminism is about the pluralism that captures the dynamism and fluidity of different cultural imperatives, historical forces and localized realities in the lives of African women. This feminist methodology assisted the author’s ability to link the ‘word to the world’ …

Sustainable Women’S Entrepreneurship: A View From Two Brics Nations, Obianuju (Uju) E. Okeke-Uzodike

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women in Africa are poorer, less educated, and enjoy less access to jobs and opportunities than men. While that is true for women around the world, the situation in contemporary Africa appears deeper. Earlier neo-classical economists viewed women as irrational economic agents, but boosted by the intellectual activities of feminist economists that highlighted the gender bias of mainstream economics. The aid and development agencies such as the World Bank and UNDP have committed to poverty reduction by embracing and strengthening the idea of holistic human development to eliminate gender-related inequality. The concept is well spelt out in the national/regional policy …

Are “Blessers” A Refuge For Refugee Girls In Tshwane, The Capital City Of South Africa? A Phenomenographic Study, Azwihangwisi Helen Mavhandu-Mudzusi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This phenomenographic study reports on the engagement of refugee girls in sexual relationships with blessers in Tshwane, the capital city of South Africa. Data were collected from 20 refugee girls through open and intense individual interviews guided by a semi-structured interview schedule. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically using Sjöström and Dahlgren’s approach to data analysis. Results indicate that girls engage in the “blesser blessee” relationship in order to escape from poverty, sex work and poor living conditions.

Blessers provide refuge for refugee girls through meeting their basic needs such as food, shelter, clothes and means of communication. …

Family-Work Conflict And Performance Of Women-Owned Enterprises: The Role Of Social Capital In Developing Countries--Implications For South Africa And Beyond, Ngek Brownhilder Neneh

Journal of International Women's Studies

One critical issue that is highly overlooked in developing regions is the family embeddedness of women entrepreneurs, even though the women in developing countries simultaneously hold several roles in the family and their businesses. As such, this study focused on evaluating the impact of family-work conflict (FWC) on the performance of women-owned businesses in a developing world context. The findings indicate that FWC negatively influenced the performance of women-owned businesses. Additionally, the moderating effect of social capital in this association was examined. The findings suggest that both bonding social capital and bridging social capital buffers the negative effect of FWC …

Biblical Moral Inquest Into Tradition Of Suspicion Of Treachery On African Women Upon Husband’S Death, Magezi Elijah Baloyi

Journal of International Women's Studies

The 16 days which South Africa dedicates to the fight against the abuse of women and children every December is a reminder of the effects of gender inequalities in this country. Even though this suspicion is inferred to other family members like parents, brothers or other relatives, this study confines itself to the suspicion towards wives when their husbands have died. This has resulted in widows being targeted in many African communities. Harmful traditional practices are part of the plights that widows are compelled to undergo if ‘suspected’ to prove their innocence. It is therefore the intention of this article …

Defying The Odds, Not The Abuse: South African Women’S Agency And Rotating Saving Schemes, 1994-2017, Mark Nyandoro

Journal of International Women's Studies

Employing a feminist lens that places emphasis on women’s agency South African feminists have challenged the dominant narrative of hapless women who need external saviours to climb out of poverty. In particular, black South African feminists have drawn attention to the appropriation and deployment of both indigenous and other concepts and practices by women to fight poverty. This article employs these perspectives to interpret the importance of rotating saving schemes in South Africa. It explores the debate about women’s economic, community-participation and entrepreneurship strategies with reference to the Stokvel and other rotating saving-schemes (e.g. mashonisa) to improve the status of …

Women And Renewable Energy In A South African Community: Exploring Energy Poverty And Environmental Racism, Khayaat Fakier

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper argues that the rights of women to be included in decisions about energy use and their experiences with energy use are ignored. Using an eco-feminist perspective this article explores how the rhetoric of ‘renewable energy for the poor’ which bypasses women’s voices and experience in domestic uses of renewable energy result in reverse outcomes of pro-environmental policy for the poor, as well as, for society in general. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 20 women in Lwandle, in South Africa, the article identifies three themes reflecting on how the women experience the installation of solar water heaters. The first …

Women Entrepreneurship In Kwazulu-Natal: A Critical Review Of Government Intervention Policies And Programs, Obianuju E. Okeke-Uzodike, Ufo Okeke-Uzodike, Catherine Ndinda

Journal of International Women's Studies

Entrepreneurship is considered one of the key drivers of economic development. It is widely recognized that female entrepreneurs in formal and informal sectors play crucial roles in building and sustaining economic growth and development. In South Africa, however, women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities remains on the periphery of formal government policy. This is despite formal pronouncements and recognition that women’s integration and role in the economy is vital for both the economic and socio-political development of the country. Indeed, the South African government has introduced various policies and programmes in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 5 – achieve gender …

Gender-Based Household Compositional Changes And Implications For Poverty In South Africa, Chijioke O. Nwosu, Catherine Ndinda

Journal of International Women's Studies

Poverty is one of the most challenging socio-economic problems in South Africa. Though poverty rates have been substantially reduced in the post-apartheid period, many South Africans remain poor. Available evidence also indicates a substantial gender gradient to the prevalence of poverty in the country. A standard indicator of gendered power structures is the gender of the household head. We examine the effect of transitioning from a male- to a female-headed household over time (relative to remaining in a male-headed household) on changes in the probability of transitioning into poverty from a non-poor state over a two- to six-year period. This …

Sexual Violence And The Limits Of Laws’ Powers To Alter Behaviour: The Case Of South Africa, Tameshnie Deane

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite having one of the most inclusive and progressive constitutions in the world, South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of sexual offences globally. This article measures the extent of sexual violence, causes, developments and challenges in research, policy and practice in relation to sexual violence against women. It analyses the causes and responses to sexual violence in a largely South African context. Through different reports and literature reviews this paper will analyze the role that social traditions and norms play in the commission of sexual violence. By analyzing a prominent rape case, the author will deliberate on …

"Growing Scar Tissue Around The Memory Of That Day": Sites Of Gendered Violence And Suffering In Contemporary South African Literature, Kate Every

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the words of renowned criminologist Antony Altbeker, South Africa is suffering from a “crisis of crime.” The outworking of tensions from the perceived inadequacies of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission have seen an explosion of violent crime, which has little improved in the two decades since the end of the Apartheid-state. Contemporary South African literature has spoken to this violent reality in myriad ways, from the violence of South Africa’s most written about novel, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, to the more recent trends in crime fiction and true-crime genres. The novels considered here, Disgrace and Margie Orford’s Like …

An Assessment Of The Constitutional, Legislative And Judicial Measures Against Harmful Cultural Practices That Violate Sexual And Reproductive Rights Of Women In South Africa, John Cantius Mubangizi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Sexual and reproductive rights of women are widely violated and abused in Africa, partly because of numerous gender-based cultural and traditional practices. All these practices exist to varying extents in many African countries—including South Africa. The Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution has several provisions that relate to the protection of sexual and reproductive rights of women, but the Constitution also provides for the right to culture, which allows for traditional and cultural practices—some of which violate certain human rights norms including the sexual and reproductive rights of women. International and constitutional protection notwithstanding, such rights can only …

From Suffragist To Apologist: The Loss Of Feminist Politics In A Politically Correct Patriarchy, Ashleigh Harris

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article discusses the ways in which feminist politics have been dissolved since the 1980s, most notably in the popular cultural sphere, so as to make feminism appear anachronistic. It considers how various discourses and texts have sought to efface the political impetus of feminism through claims to political correctness. Young women are thus interpolated into a more insidious patriarchy that re-inscribes female shame, guilt, passivity and silence in both professional and personal contexts, at the same as it espouses the discourse of equal rights. Many are not only apologizing for the equal rights that been “granted” to them, but …

Participation Of Rural Women In Development: A Case Study Of Tsheseng, Thintwa, And Makhalaneng Villages, South Africa, M. Kongolo, O. O. Bamgose

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study investigates factors which influence limited participation in the development process by women in South Africa’s rural areas. The influence of government development policy, education and cultural values on rural women was sought and investigated in this study. The results suggest that most women in rural areas are illiterate. They lack initiatives, innovations and self-reliance attitudes. Women in rural areas are isolated, confined and marginalized through the non-interactive government policies on rural areas. These symptoms reflect a lack of structured development strategy to create needed opportunities in these areas. As a result, there is a high rate of unemployment, …

Housing Delivery In Nthutukoville, South Africa: Successes And Problems For Women, Catherine Ndinda

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the notion of empowerment and what it entails in housing development. Through a critical analysis if the different phases in one particular housing project analyzed by the author, the paper highlights the areas of empowerment and emphasizes that it is a process, which in the case of Nthutukoville in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa began with securing land tenure. Access to resources and acquisition of skills are important. Both external and internal factors may be responsible for women’s inability to take charge of their lives. External factors include political violence, unsupportive local authorities, and a hostile environment as well …

Has Affirmative Action Reached South African Women?, V. Naidoo, M. Kongolo

Journal of International Women's Studies

South Africa has unfortunately inherited a work environment based on an economic system characterised by deprivation, political instability, adversarial labour relations, cheap migrant labour, and massive income and wealth disparities. The world of work is also characterised by an appalling systematic discrimination against Blacks, women, and people with disabilities. Affirmative action has been the only policy instrument used by the Democratic South Africa to redress the past imbalances. In line with the Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998, the beneficiaries of this action are mainly African women (Blacks, Coloured, and Indians including disabled people). This has been justified by …

Livelihoods, Security And Needs: Gender Relations And Land Reform In South Africa, Susie Jacobs

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article focuses on the land reform programme in South Africa as well as on broader questions of rural women’s needs. It draws on interviews with 47 key informants, drawn particularly from the NGO sector, carried out in 2002 and 2003. It examines the importance of ‘land’ compared with wider issues such as personal and bodily security. Despite some encouraging state initiatives, most informants felt that poorer rural women remained marginalized within the land reform programme and more generally. Needs for independent income, health, and personal security were emphasised, with secure access to land seen as potentially beneficial although not …

Present But Absent: Women In Business Leadership In South Africa, Catherine Ndinda, Ufo Okeke-Uzodike

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women constitute forty six (46) percent of the economically active population in South Africa. Although both South African, African men and women are well represented in the economically active population, questions arise when it comes to their presence and effective representation at higher decision-making levels. Indeed, while African men and White women are present, White men dominate in top management. Through a gender analysis of current data on the labour force, this paper examines women’s representation in top decision-making for all employers (government and business) in South Africa. In discussing the trends, the paper highlights gender disparities in the advancement …

A South African Perspective On The Clash Between Culture And Human Rights, With Particular Reference To Gender-Related Cultural Practices And Traditions, John Cantius Mubangizi

Journal of International Women's Studies

South Africa is infamous for its history of disenfranchising most of its population under the dehumanizing policy of apartheid. A country of almost 50 million people, South Africa has a diverse array of languages, races, religions and ethnic communities, and has faced significant challenges - political, cultural and socio-economic – since the advent of democracy in 1994. The writers of the 1996 Constitution faced the unenviable task of accommodating the diverse viewpoints that inevitably derived from South Africa’s fractured history and society. The Constitution is one of the most progressive in the world, and notably includes a Bill of Rights, …