 ACTIVITIES
Masimanyane has identified three thematic areas within which it operates:
• Gender-based violence including rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse and trafficking and prostitution
• Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
• The gendered nature of the HIV/Aids pandemic
Masimanyane's work is divided into four programme areas:
a. Support services
b. Awareness raising
c. Leadership training
d. Accountability through research and advocacy
(a) Support services
The aim of this programme is to provide women and girls with psychological counselling and/or legal support in a safe, confidential environment, thus assisting them to deal with the impact of the trauma they have experienced.
Masimanyane provides the following support services to women and girls:
• Individual counselling for all forms of gender-based violence either face-to-face or telephonically
• Support groups
• Crisis intervention
• HIV and Aids counselling and support
• Referrals
• Legal support and advice
• Preparation of clients for court appearances
• Support for clients in court
(b) Awareness raising
Awareness raising focuses on community awareness and public education. The programmes aim to create awareness about the forms and extent of violence and then to build effective community responses. It is essential to build a critical mass of people who know their rights and can claim. The programmes work with schools, youth and educators, as well as with community groups and conduct campaigns within local communities. Women, men and youth benefit from these programmes.
(c) Leadership training
Leadership training is a capacity- and knowledge-building component of the work. Our aim is to build a core of women leaders who can call for greater government accountability in all aspects of women's rights but specifically in respect of violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV/Aids. The programme is open to women throughout South Africa . Those who participate in the programme are trained as community advocates and will be able to identify and document human rights violations, analyse specific related issues and bring these to the attention of government and the public service.
(d) Research and advocacy
The research and advocacy programme focuses on policy formulation, implementation and monitoring. Part of
the work is to document women's lived realities and use this information to lobby for policy or programme changes. An important part of this strategy is the linking of the programmes to national, regional and international human rights instruments and mechanisms such as the Millenium Development Goals, The Maputo Protocol, CEDAW etc. Few organisations in the country are able to apply these frameworks to their work which reduces the possibility of accountability through peer reviews.
All spheres of government are targeted to receive Masimanyane's research reports and policy suggestions. Masimanyane targets provincial and national governments as well as regional initiatives such as the Pan African Parliamentary Programmes, the African Union Programmes and NEPAD. Masimanyane works strongly with the CEDAW committee in the United Nations. Use of these regional and international instruments gives Masimanyane a voice in important arenas.
Some of Masimanyane's research publications include:
• The first NGO Shadow Report to the United Nations CEDAW Committee discussing Gender-based Violence in South Africa
• An exploratory study of the impact of the justice system on women who had experienced domestic violence and rape
• A study examining perceptions of the legitimacy of Women's Human Rights in the Eastern Cape; and
• Examining the responses of men to the development of women's human rights.
Future endeavours
Masimanyane is preparing to transform itself over the next three years into a knowledge-based organisation documenting women's lived realities and using this documentation to advocate for change.
The organisation will put its focus and energy into bridging the gap between political commitment and implementation, and has already begun to increase its professional staff to ensure that the knowledge is built and that the process of documenting its work is improved.
Masimanyane plans to re-centre its work around the feminist ideology that first inspired the organisation, but which has over the first decade of its existence become dissipated. This approach will be more focused and more grounded in feminism and have stronger theoretical underpinnings.
Programmatically the organisation will strengthen its work on sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/Aids and will develop a full programme addressing prostitution and trafficking. |
