/ 2 November 2010

Changing lives, one woman at a time

Special Commendation — Drivers of Change Civil Society Award: The Rural Women’s Movement

Rural women whose role in society is dictated by tradition have largely been left out in the cold while broader South Africa focuses on democracy. But the Rural Women’s Movement, based in KwaZulu-Natal, has worked since 1999 to empower rural women to change this.

This non-profit organisation has secured land rights for rural women and ensured that they are involved in legislative processes. Its programmes are focused on the impact of the economy, land and governance on rural women. Its mission is to make rural women “aware of their rights such as property ownership within land reform processes”.

An influential driver of its mandate was the post-apartheid government’s intention to ‘actively promote the principle of gender equality” in drafting new land and agriculture policies. The new South Africa needed an environment women could “access, own, control, use and manage land, as well as access credit for productive use of land”.

In reality, rural women still face harsh discrimination in communities where male-dominated leadership expects them to remain domesticated. Civil society groups report that women and girls remain victims of gender-based violence and abuse.

The response was to establish a “vibrant rural women’s movement to represent women’s specific needs and aspirations and to lobby for policy changes”. The organisation has enlisted 500 indigenous women’s groups — double the amount it started with in 1999 — that manage a range of projects. Its membership is more than 50 000 individuals.

One of the most intensive processes it embarked on during its early years was to lobby rural women to participate in law-making that would affect their livelihood. The movement worked with the
Legal Resources Centre to challenge the constitutionality of communal land-rights laws.

Women were also encouraged to make submissions to Parliament on traditional leadership and governance laws. This involved translating legislation from English into local languages so that the women could gain a deeper understanding of proposed policies.

The Rural Women’s Movement connected with about 5 000 rural women who would be affected by this legislation, in the Eastern Cape KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. Facilitators used theatre, drawing, singing and music to communicate policies and their impacts.

Rural women built the know-how and access to draw up submissions to Parliament regarding policies. The result was that they had an effect on the laws that were passed and that would govern them.

Sibongile Shabalala, a young woman from KwaZulu-Natal who nominated the movement for an award, said she had “never seen anything like this. Indigenous women who did not have the opportunity to get formal education were tackling issues about policymaking and going to Parliament to present their submissions on these policies.

“It was the first time for me to see indigenous women having a deep understanding of the policymaking processes and legislation,” she said. Other projects address women’s property and inheritance rights, challenging forced marriages in rural communities and caring for at least 2 000 Aids orphans in KwaZulu-Natal.

The judges commended the movement as “a driver of change that innovatively uses experiences of poor rural women and girls to contribute to policymaking processes. “It secures a better life for women through training on human rights and gender and creating spaces for the marginalised to be heard on the basic issues that affect their daily lives.”