NATIONAL GENDER SUMMIT 2001

South Africa needs to take stock of how far it has come as a nation in implementing some of the ideals espoused in the constitution and the various international conventions that it has ratified of advancing and promoting gender equality. This moment also presents a chance for the Commission on Gender Equality together with the gender machinery to review and assess how far it and other structures that are mandated to promote and protect gender equality have come, to consolidate their learnings and together chart out a new vision for the millennium. The national gender summit therefore presents South Africa with an opportunity to carve a revised national gender programme that will ensure a rapid advancement of women and the effective attainment of gender equality.

Building an anti-racist and anti-sexist South Africa is one of the major goals our democratic dispensation ushered in, in 1994. As a new democracy South Africa was excited about the prospect of change. At the same time the country was mindful of regional and international experiences and as much as possible took these into account in formulating its own path. Since 1994, a number of developments have created a structural framework promoting the goal of gender equality.

2001 marks the fourth year of the existence of the Commission on Gender Equality and seven years since South Africa's transition to democracy. Established in 1996, the CGE is one of the key components of the national gender machinery, which includes the Office on the Status of Women and the Parliamentary Committee on the quality of life and the status of women. All these structures are tasked with the responsibility of supporting constitutional democracy by protecting and promoting gender equality.

[ Top ]

STRUCTURAL CONTEXT

• Our constitution is one of the few in the world which guarantees gender equality and provides institutional mechanisms like the CGE to promote and protect it.
• The electoral system we have coupled with the very gender sensitive policies of some political parties has enabled us to boast a significantly high level of women's participation in the National Assembly, and in Cabinet.
• Various pieces of legislation passed since 1994 among them: the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity Act, Domestic Violence Act, and Maintenance Act have gone further to give form to constitutional guarantees.
• As a nation in the international political scene, South Africa now enjoys relative peace and stability.
• We have seen the realisation of Constitutional Bodies established for the support and promotion of democracy. Among these are: the Human Rights Commission, the Commission on Gender Equality, and other Chapter Nine independent bodies.
• Within government we have the Office on the Status of Women and with it, gender focal points in each government department and provincial government.

Despite notable structural achievements, the following point to rampant gender-based discrimination in South Africa, fundamentally underlined by poverty:

a.      Land reform

South Africa’s system of land ownership, tenure and use has been based on both race and gender discrimination; land has been distributed inequitably between men and women. One of the reasons women struggle so to overcome poverty is that they have limited access to and control over land.

Legally, women may own land, but it is often difficult for them to get it. If women do have access to land, they often have no power over how it is used because they are subordinate to their male spouses or relatives, or because access is through group ownership, which has its own limitations.

It is estimated that, 21% of teenage girls drop out of school due to pregnancy. The CGE has received complaints about girls being expelled while their male counterparts are allowed to continue with their studies undisturbed. Negative attitudes towards girls, sexual abuse in institutions of learning, and channelling girls into non-scientific programmes are some of the other indicators of discrimination against girl child learners. Without good education girls will not be able to reverse the discrimination in employment and life beyond school.

[ Top ]

The majority of women still do not know their rights and how to access the justice system. Where the women know and try to use the law, they often encounter, firstly; negative attitudes at family and community level. This is the case with violence in the family where a woman is always discouraged from airing family issues in public, or breaking the family. The attitudes of some members of the judiciary, and law enforcement agents to female complainants, is a big challenge. Examples of this include; lenient sentences, police refusal to take complaints, negative statements against females made from the bench.

Three times more heterosexual women than men are infected with HIV. Why?

• It has been scientifically proved that because women’s reproductive organs are shaped the way they are, to receive sperm, women are more likely to get infected than men.
• Most women find it difficult to negotiate or even discuss sex with their male partners.
• Young women in particular do not have enough information about their bodies and how to negotiate sexual relationships.
• Men tend to marry or have sexual relations with women, who are younger than them, hence women are more vulnerable at a younger age.
• Many women get infected because of sexual abuse, like rape, including marital rape.
• Reproduction places women more at risk, especially those at a young reproductive age.
• Traditional practices like widow inheritance, or younger women being forced to marry their aunts’ or sisters’ husbands, make women vulnerable.

Women contribute to the economy through paid and unpaid work, at home, in their communities and in their workplaces. But they are either absent from or poorly represented in economic decision-making forums. Economic frameworks do not acknowledge and address women’s needs and economic status. For example, domestic labour is not accounted for in the GDP.

[ Top ]

Most women don’t have the exposure and skills to understand the economy. While this is the case, women are creative and innovative - the lack of opportunities and Unfavourable conditions of employment have led many women to self-employment.

It is women who have been largely responsible for the growth of the informal sector   and of independent businesses. One out of every twenty-five working women is self-employed or an employer in the informal sector.

Concerns in the formal (public and private) employment sector include the following:

• discriminatory recruitment and remuneration practices;
• lack of family-friendly policies, which often places a burden on women; and
• sexual harassment.

While the principles of equality and anti-racism are constitutionally entrenched, traditional and customary forms of social engagement persist. Entrenched social, cultural and religious practices and attitudes continue to undermine the rights of women. This is especially so for those women who live under the heavy hand of so called customary and religious laws. Since 1994 South Africa has legalised polygamy and is currently considering legalising aspects of other religious laws, which are discriminatory towards women. Harmonising these two value systems while protecting the Constitutional rights of women remains a significant challenge for us.

• Critically assess the progress that South Africa has made in addressing the 12 critical areas of concern as defined in the Beijing Platform for Action.
• Identify major gaps and new/emerging issues that need to be addressed, and develop appropriate strategies.
• Examine the impact and effectiveness of South Africa's national gender machinery.
• Examine efforts and challenges in various sectors at achieving the goal of gender equality, in particular those in/by: the private sector, the women's movement, civil society in general, community- based initiatives and the donor community.
• To share sub-regional (SADC), and regional (African), perspectives on gender equality.

  [ Top ]

• A report on the Summit proceedings to highlight the achievements and emerging challenges in implementing gender equality in South Africa.
• An over-view of who the key stakeholders and partners are, and their analysis of critical issues.
• Some pointers for the CGE and the national gender machinery on new strategic directions to take.
• Galvanisation of the women's and broad gender equality movement around the goal of gender equality.
• Putting gender equality (back), on the national agenda.

As a representative of any sector of civil society you can:

• Review progress made towards the promotion of gender equality in your sector
• Prepare a submission towards the conference to ensure that your views are heard

To get more information on the National Gender Summit 2001 contact:

Project Manager of the National Gender Summit
Commission on Gender Equality
P.O. Box 32175
Braamfontein
2017

Tel:  +27 11 403 7182
Fax: +27 11 403 7188
Email: nomfundo@cge.org.za
Website: www.cge.org.za  or  www.womensnet.org.za