Men are Human Too: Challenging Existing Perceptions and Definitions of Masculinities
Posted: 30 October, 2023 Filed under: Athini Magodla | Tags: crime levels, Fatherhood, Fatherlessness, gender equality, gender liberation, gender norms, identity, Masculinities, Men, mental health, quality of life, suicide, violence, youth 1 Comment
Author: Athini Magodla
Gender Programme Fellow, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR).
Although June was Men’s Mental Health Month, noticeably, very few people know about it. This speaks volumes and shows the general disregard by society, of the issues that men face. There are limited platforms for men to engage their mental health experiences as a result of fear that holding space for men negates feminism.
The South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) emphasises that suicide is one of the leading causes of death globally and the mortality rate amongst men is considerably higher compared to women. The death of local South African male celebrities such as Riky Rick, Patrick Shai and Jabu Christopher shone the spotlight on the prevalence of suicide amongst men, which sparked up debates on Twitter. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) reported that South African men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women – depression, anxiety and trauma are some of the contributing factors that lead men to suicide.
The opposite sex for the intersex person; assumption of binary in Kenya’s Constitution
Posted: 13 October, 2023 Filed under: Esther-Blessing Nasimiyu | Tags: binary assumption, Constitution of Kenya, equality, inclusion, intersex, intersex persons, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, non-discrimination, opposite sex, protection of minorities, right to marry, same-sex marriages, sexual minorities 1 Comment
Author: Esther-Blessing Nasimiyu
Student, Kabarak Law School
The 2010 Constitution of Kenya is notable for recognising the family system through the provision of the right to marry in article 45(2).[1] For ease of reference, article 45(2) provides that every adult has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex, based on the free consent of parties. The sub-article’s phrasing breeds a significant complication due to the insertion of the term ‘opposite sex’. This is a blatant disregard of the existence of Kenyan adults who cannot conform to either gender due to being intersex.
Ethical Considerations of Artificial Intelligence (AIEd) in the Academic Context: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility
Posted: 28 September, 2023 Filed under: Lewis Morara | Tags: Academic Context, AI, AI Act, AI Bill of Rights, AI in Education, AI Regulation Policy Paper, AIEd, Algorithmic Recommendation Management Provisions, Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, ethical implications, intelligent tutoring systems, ITS, narrow AI, OpenAI Leave a comment
Author: Lewis Morara
Lawyer, Allamano & Associates
2022 was a significant year for the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).[1] The emergence of ChatGPT marked the end of the year. In the early weeks of 2023, Microsoft expressed interest in investing $10 billion in OpenAI, Chat GPT’s parent company.[2] This investment aimed to expedite the widespread adoption of AI in various industries.[3] It entailed integrating Chat GPT into everyday tools like Microsoft Suite.[4] This aligns with projections indicating that the global AI market’s revenue will grow at a rate of 19.6% annually, reaching $500 billion this year.[5] As AI becomes increasingly prevalent, there is a corresponding emphasis on regulatory measures. The events of 2022, including the EU’s adoption of the AI Act in December[6], the United States’ AI Bill of Rights in October[7], the UK’s AI Regulation Policy Paper in July[8], and China’s enforcement of the Algorithmic Recommendation Management Provisions in March, have set a robust precedent for the future.[9]
Women’s month: A time of reflection
Posted: 29 August, 2023 Filed under: Tsholofelo Nakedi | Tags: apartheid system, brutal killings, celebration of women, discrimination against women, femicide, gender equality, health and safety of women, imbokodo, injustice, Laws and policies, passbook, racial segregation, safe spaces for women and girls, sexual offences, South Africa, violence against women, Women’s Month 1 Comment
Author: Tsholofelo Nakedi
Community Advocacy Specialist
Throughout history, women have played a significant role in fighting injustices, with most of that role often downplayed by historians. Hence it is exciting to be part of a country like South Africa that has dedicated the month of August to celebrating women. Women’s Month marks the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society. In addition, Women’s Month is an opportunity for South Africans to pay tribute to the generations of women also called imbokodo – the rock whose struggles laid the foundations for progress in empowering women and achieving gender equality. It also provides an opportunity to reflect on women’s and children’s experiences.
The Maputo Protocol: Abolitionist or tolerative approach to polygamy, in the light of Ethiopia’s reservation?
Posted: 21 August, 2023 Filed under: Meron Eshetu Birhanu | Tags: Article 650, Criminal Code, cultural norms, Ethiopia, human rights, imprisonment, lack of legal protection, Maputo Protocol, Maputo Protocol Ratification Proclamation, monogamy, polygamous marriage, polygamy, polygamy belt, religious laws, religious norms, Revised Family Code, social norms, traditional practices, women’s rights 1 Comment
Author: Meron Eshetu Birhanu
Technical Assistant, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
Despite growing modernity and advocacy for women’s rights, polygamy remains a common practice embraced by social, cultural, and religious norms[1] in most parts of Africa, including Ethiopia. The highest proportion of polygamy in Africa is found in the so-called ‘polygamy belt’, which spans from Senegal in West Africa to Tanzania in East Africa.[2] According to the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, 11 percent of married women in Ethiopia are in polygamous relationships, of which 9 percent have one co-wife and 2 percent have two or more co-wives.[3]
Forced marriage is a major concern for mental health of victims: Why are partners not doing enough? A case of Somalia
Posted: 15 August, 2023 Filed under: Bahja Hassan | Tags: CFM, child marriage, child mothering, economic gain, escaping poverty, forced marriage, fundamental rights of girls, gender equality, Girls Not Brides, health risks, Laws and policies, legal frameworks, mental health, mental healthcare, mental healthcare services, negative implications, ocial-cultural underpinning, political instability, poverty alleviation, right to education, rights to dignity, Somalia Leave a comment
Author: Bahja Hassan
Independent Somali Gender Analyst
Summary
This article points out why initiatives to address child and forced marriages in Somalia are inadequate at providing mental health services to survivors of child marriages. It proposes an urgent rethinking of current interventions and approaches to integrate mental healthcare services so that frontline workers are equipped with necessary skills to provide services to young mothers. It argues that failure to integrate mental healthcare services into programmes aimed at ending child and forced marriage would not provide any meaningful results. This is because child and forced marriage inevitably impact girls’ mental health so much as it violates their rights to dignity, education, and livelihoods.
The relative success of fact checking services in combatting fake news – a quick patch for a systemic problem?
Posted: 26 July, 2023 Filed under: Mihail Stojanoski | Tags: accessible information, Deutsche Welle, education system, election periods, fact-checking, Fake News, independent fact-checkers, intermediary regulation, lack of rationality, logical assumption, media literacy, monetary gain, research, social media, tech companies, time-limit Leave a comment
Author: Mihail Stojanoski
Human rights lawyer, Macedonia
There is little need to introduce the buzzword “fake news” and the risks associated with it. The phenomenon is nothing new but its re-emergence during the second half of the past decade is attributed in large part to the massive proliferation of news on social media and the overall lower barriers for entry into the field of news distribution.[1]
Responses were numerous and quick to appear – from the introduction of an interim take-down measure available during election periods in France to outsourcing the problem by introducing intermediary responsibility of the platforms which transmit the content in question in Germany. Setting aside the latter, which rapidly gained global popularity ,[2] an initial antidote to fake news, which was introduced swiftly and to public acclaim in many countries, was fact-checking.
‘Afrofuturism’, Pop Culture & Mainstreaming TWAIL
Posted: 13 July, 2023 Filed under: Adithya Variath | Tags: academic exploration, Afrofuturism, Black Panther, hierarchical problems, human rights, imperialism, international law, Karal Vašák, nanotechnology, political legitimacy, popular culture, technology, theoretical frameworks, TWAIL Leave a comment
Author: Adithya Variath
Assistant Professor, Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai, India
Despite Africa’s growing geopolitical significance, its under-representation and under-participation in the discourse of international law-making is a paradox. The absence of local contexts and an indigenous approach to law has been bedevilling the culture of academic exploration and human rights law research in third-world countries. For the first world global academic circle, any effort to provide an alternative structure (like TWAIL or Afrofuturism) face hostility and resistance from European counterparts. This is also because imperialism, as a post-colonial leftover of defining the context and content of international law has penetrated the understanding and pedagogies of human rights law in Africa.
ICTs and Access to judicial remedies during the COVID-19 era
Posted: 6 July, 2023 Filed under: Namatirayi Ngwasha | Tags: African countries, CaseLines, COVID-19, e-filing systems, Electronic Case Management System, ICT functions, ICT technologies, IECMS, lack of consistency, legislation, lockdown measures, National Judicial Council Guidelines, teleconferencing, videoconferencing Leave a comment
Author: Namatirayi Ngwasha
Lawyer
COVID-19 and access to the courts
The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in 2020 forced many countries in Africa to resort to the adoption of lockdown measures. Operational changes that were made included amending court rules and operating procedures. Technological methods used include video conferencing and live broadcast to ensure public access to hearings. In some instances, the number of staff coming to work was cut or staff had to work on rotational bases at the courts to enable social distancing. As a result, some of the cases fell off the court system and there was lack of consistency of handling cases due to the rotation of court staff.
The paper seeks to investigate how access to the courts was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and how the different courts adapted.
Ensuring Digital Accessibility for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education through Digital Accessibility Online Tools and Digital Accessibility Training
Posted: 29 June, 2023 Filed under: Alecia Samuels | Tags: accessibility, accessibility issues, Audio alternatives, difficulties in accessibility, Digital accessibility, digital content, Electronic Braille, ePub, higher education, Higher Education Act, learning impairments, Learning Management Systems, narrated video content, navigational methods, Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, Semantic HTML, South Africa, South African Schools Act, Students with Disabilities, universal accessibility standards, visual impairments 1 Comment
Author: Alecia Samuels
Associate Professor, Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication , University of Pretoria
When teaching and learning moved almost exclusively online during the COVID-19 pandemic, it brought into sharper focus for universities, the accessibility of their digital content especially for students with disabilities. Digital accessibility is the process of making digital products and content (websites, mobile apps, documents and other digital media and technologies) accessible for everyone regardless of any barriers they might have. While becoming increasingly relevant during the COVID 19 pandemic when universities were forced to move teaching and learning almost exclusively online, for many students with disabilities, difficulties in accessibility of the digital portions of their studies has predated the pandemic not just globally but in South Africa as well. If they are to be successful in their courses and conduct their own research, students with disabilities in higher education need learning materials and information to not just be available but also accessible in various formats that will allow them to be engaged in their learning.
AfricLaw 