SA makes strides for women
Africa’s conflict zones produce rape on a horrifying scale
AS SOUTH Africa marks Women’s Day today, a World Economic Forum study has found that the country has made strides to close the gender equality gap in society and the workplace.
The recent study found that South Africa had positive scores in “health and survival” and “political empowerment” but was lagging in “economic participation and opportunity” and “education attainment”.
Analysing the report, Europ Assistance South Africa chief executive Christelle Colman said there were many big companies which still did not recognise women’s role in business, but South Africa was heading in the right direction. She said women were increasingly being recognised for their strong leadership skills and were being taken seriously in South African boardrooms.
“This is largely a result of gender equity policies within our country’s constitution which have created an environment in which women are respected and encouraged to thrive,” she said.
Apart from this report, the latest 2016 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index indicated that Johannesburg was among the top 25 cities in the world that fostered potential female entrepreneurs.
“By providing adequate benefits, flexible working hours and proper maternity benefits, companies can attract more female employees to their organisations. When businesses take into consideration women’s need to still adhere to their family obligations, they will open themselves up to a vast group of skilled, educated and very equipped women to lead their operations,” she said.
KwaZulu-Natal businesswomen, said yesterday that while they agreed with the study’s findings, it did show that a lot still needed to be done, particularly in the corporate sector.
Durban Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dumile Cele said business and industry were concerned that South Africa did not score well in the “economic participation and opportunity” and “education attainment” subsections.
“We need to turn our education system around. And we, as the business fraternity, cannot just leave this challenge for
government’s attention only; it requires all social partners to participate. A lot of work needs to be done,” she said.
Cele said South Africa’s comprehensive Aids treatment programme was one of the reasons it had attained a high score on the health and survival component.
“We have the best and biggest Aids programme in the world and those kinds of initiatives are to be applauded. But the gender gap still exists in terms of women attaining education, and hindrances to that are many,” she said.
“In terms of economic participation, the inclusion of women in the workplace and commerce and industry is still trailing behind. As organised business, we are working aggressively to close that gap.”
The chairwoman of the KZN Businesswomen’s Association, Mpume Langa, said the ranking showed there were efforts made to drive gender parity in business and in government.
“South Africa has a big focus on having woman leaders, even though in the last five years the trend has not seen much improvement in terms of the top leadership.”
She said their latest research indicated that only 2.9% of chief executives were women.
“Women sit in the middle management space a lot and the top space is still male-dominated both in government and private sector.”
Commission for Gender Equality spokesman Mfanozelwe Shozi endorsed the study, saying labour laws and conditions of employment laws passed since 1994 proved that the country was in a bid to widen space for women, who were previously disadvantaged, to take any positions in the public and private sector. He said the government was doing well in affirming and appointing women in senior positions, but the private sector was still behind.
“As much as we have women in the private sector, but it’s because of affirmative action, and white women have been included, the private sector tends to appoint white women more than any other women and it changes the picture.
“The private sector still needs to bring more African women into-positions of power,” he said. sphelele.ngubane@inl.co.za @sphengubane
IN CELEBRATING Women’s Month the milestones, achievements and progress made should be celebrated, but the plight of women facing sexual violence in conflict zones in Africa cannot go unmentioned. While sexual violence is not necessarily ubiquitous or the same everywhere, its rampant use by rebels and soldiers reflects a deeper disturbing perception of women as objects to be controlled by the “strong” and “victorious”.
Sexual violence refers to a number of crimes including rape, sexual mutilation, sexual humiliation, forced prostitution, and others. Men can be victims of sexual violence as well, but more often it is women who are subjected to this unacceptable violation of human rights and grave injustice.
Despite the improvements in law and international recognition of sexual violence as a crime against humanity, sexual violence continues to feature prominently in many conflict zones.
For example, during the three months of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, it is estimated that between 100 000 and 250 000 women were raped.
Sierra Leone is another example of a nation that exhibits high numbers of sexual violence victims. From 1991 to 2002 civil war engulfed the nation, and during that period it is estimated that more than 40 000 women were raped.
The Democratic Republic of Congo also has alarming statistics. At least 200 000 women were raped during the Second Congo War that began in 1998 and ended in 2003. Though the conflict “officially” ended in 2003, it continues in the eastern DRC as does sexual violence.
In the Central African Republic, 2 572 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were reported in 2014 alone.
There are a variety of reasons for the prominence of sexual violence during conflict. Historically, women were considered merely as the “spoils” of war, subjected to any treatment deemed appropriate by soldiers. Women were viewed as pieces of property that the victorious could exploit.
This unfortunate perception of women as objects often collides with the use of sexual violence as a military tactic to demean and humiliate the opposition and their entire community. In communities where men are respected and revered as protectors, sexual violence against women can be used to humiliate the men who are instantly perceived as weak for having failed to defend their communities and the women.
Sexual violence has also been used in attempts to change the ethnicity of future generations and as a “punishment” for female leaders in a community.
The UN branch formerly known as the Division for the Advancement of Women noted that sexual violence could also be used as a form of troop mollification, which often results in women being forced into military sexual slavery.
For example, many Asian women were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II as the army occupied territories in Asia. Women were often abducted from their homes, held captive, raped and beaten repeatedly. The women were supposed to provide “comfort” to the soldiers and so they were referred to as “comfort women”.
A similar trend is being witnessed in Nigeria today with Boko Haram terrorising the north-eastern part of the nation. Boko Haram have abducted, raped and forced women into various forms of slavery. According to Human Rights Watch, since 2009, Boko Haram have abducted at least 500 women and girls from northern Nigeria. In April 2014, they abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok Secondary School. Survivors interviewed by Human Rights Watch shared horrific accounts of sexual abuse and rape during their captivity.
In most conflict situations people are forced to flee their homes in search of safety; as a result they become internally displaced people. With nowhere else to go they end up in camps where women and girls continue to be vulnerable to repeated incidents of sexual violence.
The statistics are alarming and the reasons and motives differ in each conflict. However, the common thread, regardless of motive and location, is that the trauma and challenges faced by each sexual violence survivor continue long after the violation itself has occurred.
The victims of this heinous crime are left with sexually transmitted diseases and infections, unwanted pregnancies, and emotional and physical scars. They are often shunned by their communities due to the stigma attached to sexual violence and are left with no psychosocial or emotional support.
Even after the conflict is over, the slow justice process often leaves victims who have been brave enough to report the crime feeling helpless and betrayed by the system. Other victims are too humiliated and ashamed to report the crime and so they continue to suffer in silence.
Just when you thought this situation could not be any worse, you discover that UN peacekeepers are also part and parcel of the list of suspected perpetrators.
Disturbing allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of women and children at the hands of UN peacekeepers stationed in the Central African Republic surfaced in 2014.
Though investigations are ongoing, most allegations reportedly relate to the Burundian and Gabonese contingent present in the Kemo region between 2013 and 2015.
The French troops involved in Operation Sangaris, stationed in the same region, have also been accused of sexual violence.
In all the above situations, preventing the conflict in the first place may seem like an obvious solution, but in the imperfect world we live in, this is proving difficult. But it is possible to continue addressing and rigorously challenging the mentality that promotes the objectification of women.
What better time than this Women’s Month to remind ourselves that all women, in peace and wartime, should be treated with respect and dignity.