Sexism in South Africa

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Why is this a “giant”?
Sexism is a scourge affecting every aspect of South African life, and it leads to the underutilization of human potential and produces a level of violence and discrimination that tears apart the very fabric of our society.

What are the realities?
SEXISM IN GOVERNMENT: Women comprise 52% of the South African Population, yet only 29% of seats in Parliament are held by women. Only 2 out of the 10 of the judges on the Constitutional Court are women. In the total number of 186 judges in South Africa, 176 are men, 10 are women.

SEXISM IN BUSINESS: The South African Constitution, The Labour Relations Act of 1995, and the Employment Equity Bill enshrine gender equality in all aspects of employment, yet women earn less. Women earn between 72% and 85% of what men of the same educational status earn.

WOMEN ARE IN UNSKILLED SECTORS: Women are disproportionately found in the lowest skilled and lowest paid occupations. 38% of employed South African women work in the unskilled jobs, and the number jumps to 51% for employed African women. Women are marginalized in management positions; only 22% of all managers in South Africa are women, and 50% of those are white.

WOMEN ARE LOSING JOBS: Women are disproportionately located in employment sectors that have suffered the largest retrenchments and job losses, including the clothing and textile industries, the public sector, and the teaching and nursing field.

SEXISM LEADS TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: A woman in South Africa is raped every 23 seconds. Every 6 days a woman is murdered by her husband or domestic partner. One out of every four women is currently in an abusive relationship.

What does this mean?
Generally, women are responsible for generating income and also carry an unequal share of unpaid labour, including childcare and domestic labour. Families tend to favor the boy child in terms of education, skills training, and medical care. Girl children are often given domestic duties much earlier than boys which prevents girls from pursuing an education or skills training. Women, who are often the sole financial support for their families, are seen as secondary wage earners and are tracked into low paid, undervalued jobs or occupy sectors of the informal economy. Most tragically, women in South Africa face the daily threat of physical or psychological assault that hinders their security and sense of worth.

What is being done?
The government has initiated numerous pieces of legislation to address women’s economic and physical security, including the Employment Equity Act, Domestic Violence Act and the Violence Against Women Act. There are numerous organizations in civil society attempting to aid victims of sexual violence, such as Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Rape Crisis, and POWA, and several attempting to address women’s status and economic security, such as MOSAIC and NISSA.

What is our responsibility?
What are we as Church leaders telling our congregations about the role and status of women? How can we work to support women in all aspects of their lives, from education to employment, from safety to security? What is the Church’s responsibility in the face of the daily violent and psychological assault on the women of our society?