CAPE TOWN - As the world observes International Women's Day, today calls have been reignited for the implementation of laws to ensure gender equality in all spaces that would also curb Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
In 1977, the General Assembly of the UN officially designated March 8 as International Women’s Day.
This year, it’s celebrated under the theme “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, and calls for climate action for women, by women.
“Women and girls experience the greatest impacts of the climate crisis as it amplifies existing gender inequalities and puts women’s lives and livelihoods at risk. Across the world, women depend more on, yet have less access to, natural resources, and often bear a disproportionate responsibility for securing food, water, and fuel,” UN Women said in a statement.
Women on Farms Project director, Colette Solomon, said post-apartheid has seen many laws and policies to advance women empowerment and rights, however they were not implemented.
“Many of our laws are not enforced. When looking at the realities for the majority of women, farm workers are a great example.
“We find that despite labour laws and other laws that are supposed to protect workers on farms, they are not.
“The majority of permanent farm workers are still men, and women are seasonal workers, which is much more insecure.
“There are also fewer rights as a seasonal worker including no weekly or monthly wage, but you get paid per hour in a day.
“So women are earning less compared to their male counterparts,” said Solomon.
She said financial independence of women was constrained which made it hard for them to escape toxic or abusive relationships.
St Anne's Homes executive director, Joy Lange, said Covid-19 has further exacerbated the abuse of women and children because many jobs were lost.
“The unemployment, inequality and poverty causes frustrations at home and this increased the violence.
“We are faced with a lot of corruption in this country, funds that are looted could actually assist our community on the ground.
“So there is nothing to really celebrate, it took us four years to get to the national strategic plan to act on GBV and femicide. We don’t know how long it will take to actualise it.”
Ethembeni shelter manager in De Aar, Rose Bailey, said: “There is no real movement in the fight against women and child abuse. The national budget speech was real evidence that this country is not serious when it comes to Gender Based violence.”
Trade union, United Association of South Africa (UASA) spokesperson, Abigail Moyo said South Africa’s gender pay gap median was still between 23% and 25%.
“On the eve of International Women’s Day 2022, a disappointing gender pay gap persists in South Africa and elsewhere. South Africa has countless female-headed households, with women working hard to make ends meet and ensure a better life for their children.
“The gender pay gap stands in the way of many who struggle to realise their dreams for their offspring. The gender pay gap represents a real stumbling block in the way of a more successful country,” said Moyo.
Business Partners Limited executive director, Rayna Dolphin said the South African business environment has not always been as welcoming to women as it has been to their male counterparts.
“If we can make a greater effort as industry role-players to invest in women as leaders, we will be taking a great stride towards building an inclusive business community that can uplift and empower communities and civil society as a whole. For some companies that support women, this might take the form of mentorship programmes or further training initiatives for women. For others, it may mean addressing the gender pay gap with swift and intentional action,” Dolphin said.
Cape Times