Gender Equality South Africa Project #47222

#Fundthefight: End GBV

by The Wise Collective (dba as Wise4Afrika)

Project Report | Jun 3, 2021
April 2021 Update

By Onica Makwakwa | Director

Dear Supporters,

We are pleased to launch our first newsletter, Wise Notes! It will keep us connected as we galvanize actions to advance gender equality and share lessons and impact stories from our work. We hope that from time to time our readers will also be inspired to share their talent, treasures and time towards ending gender discrimination and violence against women to advance equality.

This icon, whom we fondly refer to as the #wiseWarrior, is our fearless mascot and represents our collective determination to fight diligently for gender equality while also celebrating today’s womxn in the many feminism movements.

Now grab your favorite drink, we are sipping on hot ginger tea for this season, and join us for a quick rendezvous of select pertinent and piping hot topics for this month! Let’s Sip! Fixing The CountryConCourt

On the 9th of February Wise4Afrika joined the Andy Kawa vs Minister of Police and others matter as amicus curiae in the Constitutional Court with a desired outcome for on the failure of South African Police Service (SAPS) to treat investigations of gender based violence with the utmost and highest degree of seriousness, diligence and care to ensure justice for victims and/or survivors.

We (im)patiently await judgement which we believe will be groundbreaking in ensuring the kind of leadership and accountability we deserve from those ceased with the responsibility to ensure our constitutional right to safety.

Abuse of power by the Hawks

The July 31st, 2020 arrest of Norma Gigaba by the SAPS elite force, the Hawks, was no doubt an abuse of power by a state entity and unlawful as the Pretoria High Court correctly ruled. This level of abuse by a State body whose core purpose is to serve and protect undermines any efforts by the government to address gender based violence and femicide.

Most importantly, it makes a mockery of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF, adopted by the government in 2020, which centers the importance of Leadership and Accountability as the first pillar. Despite that, the Office of the President, which also received and committed to the 24 demands delivered by #TheTotalShutdown on 01 August 2018, has continuously ignored calls to the type of leadership and accountability required by addressing this matter from the highest office of the land.

In fact, in the only response received after inquiring several times, Mike Louw, Director of Support Services in the Office of the Presidency writes a very dismissive message which essentially references the avenue to file a complaint against the police as if the President is not in charge of this government entity.

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Shaping The Country

Nothing else brings out the ugly rape culture than “fans” defending their popular faves when they’ve been accused of sexual violence or other forms of GBV. The public vilification of the victim/survivor who accused DJ Fresh and DJ Euphonik of rape is a reminder of how patriarchy has taught us to always doubt women and justify men’s misogynistic actions. From online bullying to phone calls threatening death after DJ Euphonik exposed her telephone number to the potential 1.8 million of his followers on Twitter and many more on Facebook and through articles carried by the Sunday World, it’s no wonder why only 40% of rapes are reported. This behavior by the public, media houses and overall systems of power that protect and support men makes it even harder for women to “fake cry rape” as it is commonly believed. This rape culture is well entrenched in our society and especially in online spaces where women are bullied, discredited and just simply not believed.

Wise 4 Afrika is asking you to do better. We are asking you to #StartByBelieving women when they tell you they have been violated. Take a pledge at www.wise4afrika.org/BelieveHer and start today to challenge rape culture! Remember, over 40% of reported rapes in South Africa are children under the age of 9, are they also lying? Play your part, help us end the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of violence by taking the pledge and asking your friends to join you.

In case you missed it . . .

Publications

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Feb 3, 2021
February 2021 Update

By Onica Makwakwa | Director

Oct 6, 2020
GlobalGiving October 2020 Update

By Onica Makwakwa | Project Leader

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GlobalGiving

October 2020 Update

The Wise Collective is at the forefront of advocating for gender equality, forcing change to ensure women’s access to justice and providing solutions towards shifting the power inherent in the patriarchal oppression of women.

To that end, the organization continues to be a voice for women, publicly challenge unfair decisions and practices that not only disadvantage women but sometimes put them in harm’s way. Through this work, we recently celebrated a victory when a magistrate who is suspected of corruption due to the extremely lenient judgements issued against perpetrators who sexually violated women and children, was suspended from the bench. This victory will have long lasting effect towards fighting gender based violence in a country where 1 in 4 women is raped every 15 minutes, a prevalance rate that places South Africa among the world’s highest rape statistics for a country that is not in combat. Publicly calling out systemic enablers to the violence against women is a good deterent and has the potenttial of saving hundreds more women from experiencing such violations.

In addition, we continue to represent women and children in legal cases including those dealing with sexual harassment, overall harassment including by state institutions such as special police units, domestic violence, child custody, and defamation. With an average of at least three (3) requests per week, WISE has proudly taken on over 90% of the requests for legal representation with the support of a young feminist lawyer and an advocate. Below is a highlight of significant wins in the past month:

In a divorce case whereby an estranged husband had been physically and verbally abusive yet is now using the woman’s depression and mental state to take the children away from her - WISE legal team represented the women and won immediate access to her children. The case will continue for arguments on permanent residence of the children.

A young woman who was sexually harassed at work and later unfairly dismissed also received representation from the WISE legal team; she’s won the first round of her case at the labor arbitration and has been granted the right to proceed with seeking legal recourse in the labor court. In addition to legal support, she also received support from a psychotherapist and career coaching to enable her to emerge stronger from this experience.

An ongoing case we have been investigating and gathering evidence has received the attention of the National Intelligence Agency as we are paving the way for a group of women to bring collective charges against a church leader who has been sexually violating them.

The WISE team believes no one woman deserves to be violated and that attending to each single case helps us build a culture that respects women’s right to safety. We thank all our supporters for sharing your gifts with us. Together we will achieve Gender Equality!

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