Bildspel

South Africa

Many well-educated women in the cities live in relative equality, while women in other parts of the country are controlled by written and unwritten rules that restrict their freedom of movement.
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“Mother. Don’t go there! It is Eudy. They’ve killed my sister!”


Name: 
Eudy Simelane
Kiled:
Aged 31 

“They called me a bloody lesbian and raped me.”  


Name:
Themba
Age:
29

“We’ll show you what it’s like to be with a real man.”


Name:
Jents
Age:
23

“I asked him to forgive me for making him beat me.”


Name:
Elizabeth
Age:
23

“I was only three the first time someone took my pants off and put his finger inside me.” 


Name:
Blessing
Age:
27

“I just stood there, holding a pan of boiling water I was going to throw over him.”  


Name:
Phindi
Age:
42

“I used to sit up at night waiting for him to come home and beat me.”


Who:
Motshidisi
What:
Uses her position as “village mother” to work against violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS.  

“I don’t want my daughter to be a ‘good girl’.”     


Who:
Kgosi Mabe
What:
Uses his position as tribal king to work against violence against women.    

“We lesbians are not seen as either women or men.”


Who
: Kunu Semake
What:
Works for the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, and runs her own youth club.

“No African culture supports the violence.”


Who
: Sonke Gender Justice Network
What:
Work with men to stop the violence against women, and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.