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What is in this guide?
This guide provides government policy on gender equality and women's empowerment. It has the following sections:
1.1 The economic system
1.2 Culture and social norms
1.3 Political systems2.1 Repealing discriminatory laws and passing new laws to give rights to women
2.2 Empowering women
2.3 Ending woman abuse
2.4 Transforming gender relations
The Constitution provides for the equality of men and women, as a fundamental part of its human rights approach. Gender refers to the social system, which governs the relations between men and women. It is the different roles that societies prescribe for men and women. Unlike sex, which is biological, gender is determined by a given society's values and norms, the social, political and economic system. So a man's sex determines that he cannot have babies, but it is his gender role in most societies that determines that he should not feed babies and change nappies. Gender roles are cultural and culture is something that changes over time.
Most societies have a patriarchal system, which governs relations between men and women. Patriarchy, which literally means the rule of the father, is a social system where men play the dominant role. It lso means that men are seen as the heads of households. Women take a subordinate or second-class role. This is usually reinforced through the following systems:
1.1 The economic system
Men are regarded as breadwinners and therefore paid more than women. Women perform unpaid labour such as rearing children, keeping families intact which are not acknowledged when the domestic product of the country is added up. With regards to property and inheritance rights, women are often discriminated against.
1.2 Culture and social norms
Culture is everything in society which is socially rather then biologically transmitted. For example, gender roles and certain types of behavior are learned and allocated to men and women - boys don't cry, men must protect 'their' girls and women, men are the heads of households and so forth. Girls must be kind and nurturing, not aggressive or too pushy. The social role men play is linked to power and control and many people in our communities see it as part of the social order (the way things should be).
1.3 Political systems
Until as late as the 1970's, women were not allowed to vote in many countries, it also went without saying that governments, big business and international institutions were run mostly by men.
This has resulted in a situation where world wide, women are discriminated against and continue to be second-class citizens. Since the beginning of the 19th century, women organised and mobilised to improve their situation, winning the right to vote and to put issues of gender equality on the agenda of countries and the world. As a result of these struggles, the United Nations organised a conference to look at this issue, which was held in Beijing at the end of the 20th century, and drew up a programme to ensure gender equality throughout the world.
South African women have also been part of this global women's movement to improve their lot. For example, as early as 1913 women in rural Western Transvaal and the Free State mobilised against the Land Act and joined their men folk in the struggle for liberation.
Successive colonial and apartheid governments - in addition to oppressing black women because of their race - also introduced laws that relegated them to third class citizens. African women were regarded as legal minors, and could therefore not enter into any contractual arrangements, without permission from their fathers or husbands or sons.
The equality clause in the Constitution was therefore one of the victories of 1994. However, like getting rid of the legacy of apartheid, the legacy of discrimination and oppression of women too will take a long time to eradicate.
2.1 Repealing discriminatory laws and passing new laws to give rights to women
One of the most important tasks of the democratic government was to repeal laws and policies that discriminated against women. These laws and policies give women rights that they were previously denied.
New laws such as the Employment Equity Act, the Labour Relations Act and the policy of affirmative action, mean that employers (in the public and private sector) must introduce programmes, which ensure the representation of women in all professions and job grades, at equal pay and guarantees maternity rights.
Government is also working to ensure that gender issues are mainstreamed in all its programmes and structures, and has created a gender machinery to monitor and advise government. This consists of the Offices on the Status of Women in the Presidency, Premiers and Mayoral offices, the Commission for Gender Equality, gender desks in departments and gender committees in Parliament and Legislatures.
2.2 Empowering women
Part of mainstreaming gender is to ensure that specific attention is paid to the improvement of the status of women. And, since women make up the largest percentage of the poor and unemployed, all poverty alleviation programmes and projects target women. Furthermore, because women continue to be the primary care givers in communities, programmes aimed at other vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, disabled and sick also tend to target them.
2.3 Ending woman abuse
Women abuse - physically, emotionally, financially, and sexually, is a serious social problem in our communities. The Justice system also includes new protections against all forms of woman abuse. For example, laws against rape and domestic violence have been strengthened and the police and courts now have new mandates to deal with violence against women.
See the paralegal manual on this website for more details..2.4 Transforming gender relations
Gender relations are also about interpersonal relations and cultural norms, which government cannot regulate. Government can for example enforce the law that men must pay maintenance, but it cannot force men to help with childrearing and nurturing. That is why women continue to mobilise and join hands with men to ensure transformation of gender relations in all aspects of our society - in the family, religious institutions, culture, the media, etc.
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