‘Prisoners of patriarchy’ – South African women are still in shackles

With President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday calling for an end to the massive inequality in income between men and women, two leading gender experts say women are still imprisoned by patriarchy.

This, despite the strides made in achieving gender parity in South Africa’s 30 years of democracy. Ramaphosa also used his Women’s Day speech at the Denis Nel Stadium in Pofadder, Northern Cape, to highlight SA’s alarming levels of gender-based violence.

Quoting Human Sciences Research Council statistics during his speech, Ramaphosa said 7% of women aged 18 and older experienced physical or sexual violence annually.

He said 7% “may not sound like a lot, [but] it is equivalent to 1.5 million women who are abused and violated”.

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A total of 13% of women have suffered economic abuse by intimate partners.

As South African women earned a quarter of their income from grants, Ramaphosa called for more jobs to be created.

He urged for “more economic opportunities for women, so they are less vulnerable to exploitation and abuse”.

“We need to address the massive inequality in income between men and women,” he added.

System of patriarchy

Phinah Kodisang of the Soul City Institute said South African women were “in shackles – imprisoned by patriarchy”.

“Despite the many gains made by feminism, patriarchy continues the denialism of women’s freedom.

“The system of patriarchy keeps women dominated and subordinate, creating obstacles for them to progress and enjoy their freedoms.

“Patriarchy has convinced people, including some who are strong and intelligent, that they have not been enabled the right to enjoy freedoms as enshrined in the constitution, said Kodisang.

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She said patriarchy is also a manifestation of the intersectionality of power and social disconnectedness.

“One of the many issues women continue to face is GBV [gender-based violence], which cuts across all communities in South Africa.

“There continues to be an interplay between poverty, patriarchy, racism and normativity.

“This leads to black women and LGBTIQA [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual] people living in poverty and being most at risk for GBV,” added Kodisang.

Black women disempowered

The country’s apartheid history had created “a distorted economic and social structure, which seriously disadvantaged the majority of black South Africans, especially women.

“It is only since the advent of democracy in 1994 that black women are being empowered through reforms such as affirmative action, employment equity, as well as economic empowerment programmes implemented by government and civil society organisations.

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“The challenge is that all these empowerment interventions have not changed the status of most black women from being oppressed and disempowered.

“They have not changed gender and social norms that are dominating many black communities,” added Kodisang.

“South Africans in general and black women in particular, are subject to a unique set of social circumstances – meaning that strategies to achieve gender equality must be tailor-made for our context.”

Laws remain ineffective

Kayan Leung of Lawyers for Human Rights said: “Laws need to be designed in a manner that are reflective of the needs of those affected – their lived realities – otherwise laws remain ineffective.

“Laws should be implemented with the requisite political will.

“But alongside this, we need to have more societal conversations in addressing why we still have perceptions of power over one another.

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“Data speaks for itself. Women play an integral role in our community and society, yet are not afforded the same access and opportunities.

“We need to work on behaviour and mindset changes, which go hand-in-hand with the law,” said Leung.

She said laws would “never achieve the substantive equality we dream of if key challenges are not addressed”.

“We celebrate and honour all the incredible women who have led our country against all obstacles and call for a united front to work towards substantive equality for a better country,” added Leung.