Close to 4 million teenage girls are subjected to breast ironing worldwide. This harmful cultural practice, which is most prevalent in West and Central Africa, needs to stop.
Colette, photographed by Henri Manuel.
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Activists often face intransigent regimes and ruthless warlords. But women can use traditional insights into femininity and motherhood for political mobilisation and resistance.
The SACP and Cosatu have spoken out against South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma.
Flcker/GCIS
The twilight of Jacob Zuma’s ruinous presidency coincides with growing revulsion at his misrule of South Africa. But, it’s important that his erstwhile supporters acknowledge their complicity.
Men who had to take responsibility for younger siblings growing up were not concerned about conforming to dominant ideas about manhood.
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About 60% of children in South Africa under 10 years don’t live with their biological fathers. But research sheds light on those who despite the pressures remain involved in their children’s lives.
It’s about more than gender dynamics: Do social institutions get in the way of dads being dads?
Reginald Williams / Pexels
Why is it all about mom? Fathers want to be more involved in their children’s lives, but are limited by public policy and social institutions. This is a bad deal for dads, kids and moms alike.
President Jacob Zuma at the opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders in Parliament.
GCIS
The clash over South Africa’s Traditional Courts Bill is essentially about custom and constitutionalism. The government is often seen as pandering to traditional leaders’ whims.
Women are driving the declining rate of marriage in China.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Chinese parents and the state are concerned about the declining marriage rate in the country. But the focus on single men ignores the root of the problem.
University campuses are a hotbed of rape culture.
Reuters
The world is generally not safe for women. But some projects in North Africa provide a glimpse of hope as the world marks the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Women in Kenya face issues of beatings, polygamy and being forgotten after bearing children.
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South Africa’s violence against women ranks as one of the worst in the world. As much as 40-50% of women in the country have suffered intimate partner violence.
Violence against women is rife in South Africa.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
South Africa is emblematic of why violence against women responses in Africa are failing. While good measures are being rolled out, it lacks a united, comprehensive, multi-disciplinary response.
The mobilisation of women has taken on many forms across the continent.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
The Traditional Courts Bill ignores concerns that women do not get a fair hearing. The courts tend to rule in line with patriarchal values; violating the constitution, which guarantees equality.