INTRODUCTION
South Africa has undergone major transformation over the past 13 years, of which the development of democracy and the shift to a culture of human rights is the most significant. Legislative changes, the development of national mechanisms, the introduction of government programmes to support victims of violence and the allocation of necessary resources from the fiscal budget have all been major achievements for the women's sector.
In spite of these advances, women in South Africa continue to suffer untold oppression and discrimination in all communities. Violence in all its manifestations is insidious throughout the lifespan of women and girls in this country. There is a global concern for the women and girls of South Africa who continue to lack safety and security and who are not benefiting from the transformation process.
Gender-based violence continues to undermine development programmes, increases poverty and illiteracy, affects productivity and undermines the health and wellbeing of victims/survivors. It also undermines South Africa 's attempts to meet its millennium development goals.
Masimanyane Women's Support Centre plays a pivotal role, both locally and on a national and international scale, in the gender-based violence and HIV/Aids sectors. Together with other organisations working in these fields, Masimanyane has raised violence against women as a national priority through its daily work and through the various campaigns and programmes it runs.
HISTORY
Masimanyane Women's Support Centre was established in 1995 by current executive director Dr Lesley Ann Foster, who invited woman activists and survivors to assist in developing a support programme for women and girls who experience sexual violence.
Initially Masimanyane provided counselling support to mostly black women and girls from marginalised communities. Central to this work was the philosophy that women from these marginalised communities could themselves be trained to provide support to survivors.
The problem of gender-based violence proved to be so immense, and the responses from the criminal justice system so weak, that Masimanyane soon found itself drawn into providing paralegal support and engaging in a broad range of advocacy and public education initiatives.
Building women's leadership capacity is essential in ensuring accountability and improved government responses. Women have to know the law and be acquainted with the human rights instruments at their disposal to be able to bring about change. To this end, Masimanyane has developed a leadership training institute which brings women together and takes them through various training programmes. Not only do these programmes build their skills and knowledge base, but they also prepare them for government office. Five women trained by Masimanyane were taken up into local government following the elections in 2006.
Working with women alone proved to have limited impact as these women still had to confront men in their daily interactions. It therefore became necessary to also work with men in order to address the power relations between men and women. Consequently, a “men's programme” was established, aiming to build allies among non-violent men who in turn can challenge perpetrators of violence. |
