Shaping the law to further gender equality

A review of the proposed legislation on gender equality is one of the recent projects Masimanyane has engaged in.

“We conducted research with women’s groups throughout the country to document what they thought the Bill should address and held a national conference to develop an alternative Gender Equality Bill,” Masimanyane  executive director Dr Lesley Ann Foster said.  

“We have utilised international instruments and mechanisms such as the CEDAW shadow reporting process and the Optional Protocol to CEDAW, in which we called for an inquiry into the high levels of domestic violence in SA.”

Foster said in the past the organisation had used the Universal Periodic Reporting System to raise concerns about the trafficking of young women, and to address specific sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) concerns.  

Masimanyane was admitted by the High Court of SA (Western Cape Division) as amici curiae in a case of a forced child marriage.

This was a precedent-setting case because it was the first in which a man was convicted for the abduction, trafficking, rape and forced marriage of a young girl citing customary law as a right. 

In 2012, Masimanyane also undertook a significant project when it applied the Optional Protocol to the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women by asking the CEDAW committee to conduct an inquiry into the high levels of violence against women in SA.

 This inquiry request, submitted in October 2012, will hold the state accountable for reducing levels of violence against women and girls, and securing the rights of those whose health is adversely affected by domestic violence.  

Masimanyane’s work was recognised by the national minister of  justice when it was appointed to form part of the team which developed the current Domestic Violence Act (1998).  

 “Our knowledge of the CEDAW convention informed the development of the DV Act and we included Article 1 of the convention in the preamble.

“We developed expertise on the act and its application, and continue to share this learning with local communities,” Foster said.

In addition, Masimanyane developed the first shadow report presented to the UN in 1998. 

It was a thematic report that focused on violence against women and girls in the country, and it was  intersectional with all aspects of women’s lives, making it the first-ever thematic shadow report. 

“We submitted a subsequent shadow report to the CEDAW committee in 2010,” Foster said. 

Masimanyane also conducted a study into the impact of the CEDAW convention on women at grassroots for the parliamentary committee on the Improvement in the Quality of Life and Status of women in 2000. 

It contributed to a review by the same committee into the impact of HIV/Aids on women for the same parliamentarian committee.

Other notable achievements include:

• Early in its existence, Masimanyane conducted an exploratory study into the experiences of women in the criminal justice system, which led to the establishment of a temporary sexual offences court that addressed a five-year backlog of rape cases. Once it had reduced the backlog the court was disbanded, and cases are now heard in the court itself. 
•  At a provincial level, it has assisted the government to develop an anti-rape strategy which is being used by all arms of the criminal justice system.
• Masimanyane was part of the disaster management development process and worked to ensure a gender perspective into the development plan.
• Masimanyane has a member on the Buffalo City municipality’s youth council who is contributing to the development of a youth strategy.
• Masimanyane has most recently worked on the issue of child forced marriages in the Eastern Cape. In 2014/2015, Masimanyane partnered the commission of the promotion and protection of the rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) in conducting research into this harmful cultural practice. The investigation has informed a white paper on ukuthwala and will be reviewed in the drafting of legislation by the SA Law Commission.