YOUNG WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

 
Addressing the problem

Black young women in South Africa experience a myriad of problems which is as follows: 

Unemployment in black townships is around 30 to 40%. The unemployment rate of black women is much higher than the rate for the total population.

Unskilled people and in particular women earn very low wages, too little to meet the needs for themselves and their dependents. Women often see with their wages to the well being of extended families while men spend on things for their own interest. Some women have children for the sole purpose of accessing child grants. The child grant is very little, but for some women it is be the only source of money.

There is a great shortage of housing in townships with up to 25 people sharing a typical house of under 50 square metres or a shack. There is no privacy for the residents in these dwellings. In informal settlements as much of 50 dwellings may share one tap and toilet.

According to latest research, 33% of pregnant women are now infected with HIV in South Africa. Poor black women often have little say in their reproductive health and men are determining when intercourse shall take place and many of them are refusing to use of condoms due to traditional or superstitious beliefs. A superstitious belief that intercourse with a virgin can cure men infected by HIV/Aids puts young women at additional risk. Due to the high unemployment rate and low pay, women are often forced to live with their boyfriends and husbands even if they wish to leave them. Young women infected by HIV/Aids are getting pregnant with the wish to leave something behind after the die. By doing this they are infecting men and thus increase the size of the pandemic and increase the number of children infected by HIV/Aids and children who lost their parents to the disease. The burden of looking after people who suffer from Aids and their dependents mostly rests upon the shoulders of women.

Black women in townships experience abuse and violence and are often victims of rape. This stems from the violent history of South Africa with its accompanying lack of respect for life and from frustrations on behalf of men with regards to their educational opportunities and unemployment.

Under apartheid black townships were built far away from city Centres and places of work. The rationale for this was to contain unrest and for the black population to be out of sight of white people. Looking for work and opportunities was thus expensive and time-consuming for black people. Under apartheid little educational opportunities existed for black people. Thus many black people and in particular women have little skills to offer to find or create their own work. The location of townships also removes its residents from points of access to government and other agencies.

The socio-economic conditions in townships often do not allow women to enjoy the freedoms as set out in the Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution.

The Forum will connect with other forums such as South African Women in Dialogue, Young South African Women in Dialogue, the Gender Commission and the University of the Western Cape.

Justification of the Project

The project focuses on raising awareness of issues affecting women and the rights they have.  Women often don’t have the opportunity for their joint voice to be heard.  In women’s forums women can come together and address issues affecting them and work toward change.  The Forum provides them with the opportunity to network and address their problems in co-operation with Human Rights Agencies and service providers and are catalysts for mobilisation and advocacy work.  The project aims to encourage people to engage with and participate in all the relevant structures and organisations.

Objectives

Global Objective
 

• To create and sustain a platform for young women to voice and address issues of concern to them.

Intermediate goals

• To assess the need for a Young Women’s Forum in areas in the Western Cape where women representing civil society can meet and discuss how they can address problems they are facing within the framework of the South African Constitution and democratic structures
• To research on organisations and structures which are dealing with young women’s needs
• To set up a forum that will act as official mouth piece for young women in the Western Cape
• To form qualitative partnerships with other organisations fighting for human rights, gender issues and other issues that concern women
• To align to the objectives of Young South African Women in Dialogue which focuses on dialogue, advocacy and lobbying
• To reduce the high rate of HIV among young women and the forum to act as a referral agent.
• To produce documentation on the project as a learning tool for others
• To work in the framework of the South African Human Rights Commission and Gender Commission and discussing with them insights gained through this project obtained from the work undertaken at grassroots level and refer cases to the South African Human Rights Commission Equality and Gender Commission Centre.

Methods

Methods used are participatory workshops with community members which are planned and evaluated together with the participants. A feminist approach is taken by taking into account experiences of women and reflecting on the impact of these on their way of thinking and actions. The Centre actively encourages women to take women role models.

Target groups

The project aims to work with young black women in schools and at tertiary institutions in the Cape Town Metropolitan area who experience abuse, violence and the effects of HIV/Aids among others.

Contact

The Manager at the details on the index page.
 
 

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