Relearning conflict-related sexual violence: expanding the lens of violence
Posted: 16 January, 2025 Filed under: Lesego Sekhu, Namatirayi Ngwasha | Tags: conflict-related sexual violence, gender-based violence, human rights violations, humanitarian crises, intimate partner violence, IPV, militia, Palestine, peacebuilding efforts, post-conflict IPV, rebels, sexual violence, soldiers, South Sudan, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Transitional Justice, Uganda, Ukraine 1 Comment
Author: Lesego Sekhu
Research Assistant, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
Given the severity of conflict-related sexual violence during intra-state and inter-state conflicts in the last decade, transitional justice and peacebuilding efforts have directed resources to investigating this form of sexual and gender-based violence. They aim to create measures to both prevent and address the consequences of these atrocities. Notwithstanding the intention, the conventional understanding of conflict-related sexual violence is flawed and neglects the continuities and diversity of violence that permits continued impunity for sexual and gender-based violence during conflict.
Decolonising “African values”: The future of LGBTQ+ pride and rights
Posted: 31 October, 2024 Filed under: Lesego Sekhu, Namatirayi Ngwasha | Tags: ACHPR, African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights, African countries, African values, anti-rights groups, discrimination, homophobia, homosexuality, human rights violations, LGBTQ+, political persecution, Pride Month, sexual orientation, social exclusion, South Africa Leave a commentAuthor: Lesego Sekhu
Research Assistant, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
October marks Pride Month in South Africa. Historically, Pride in this country and, more broadly, the rest of the continent has been used for political advocacy, protesting against discrimination and political persecution, and reaffirming LGBTQ+ people’s rights. In the spirit of “leaving no one behind”, this year, our Pride agenda should include radical solidarity with LGBTQ+ people in other African countries who face a growing anti-rights movement specifically targeting LGBTQ+ and other sexually diverse and gender-diverse people.
The Status of Citizenship for Black Women in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Posted: 13 May, 2024 Filed under: Lesego Sekhu, Sinqobile Makhathini | Tags: African feminists, African women, apartheid, “face of poverty”, black women, discrimination, economic exploitation, heteropatriarchal systems, historical injustices, inequality, national oppression, post-colonial identity, racial division, South Africa, unemployment, women's rights 1 Comment |
Author: Lesego Sekhu Research Assistant, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation |
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Author: Sinqobile Makhathini Research Assistant, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation |
As we reflect on the celebration of International Women’s Month in March and motion towards the upcoming 2024 elections, which will be held on 29 May 2024, it is a significant time to critically reflect on Black women’s citizenship and positionality in post-apartheid South Africa.
Brief history
Historically, Black people have experienced second-class citizenry within the social, economic, and political landscape of South Africa. During apartheid, racial division was the primary strategy of ‘otherness’ that was exemplified by racialised citizen status that was reserved for white races, while the Black majority were systemically excluded from the imagination of the state. Equally, gender played a role in the divisions of labour, access to resources, and experiences of systematic violence that show apartheid as equal parts racial and equal parts gendered.
AfricLaw 