Activistas from AASA's youth programme
Gender responsive public services (GRPS) have been the topic of a great deal of debate over the last few years within ActionAid and among many of our partner organisations. Despite this, and the great deal of work being done under the banner of GRPS around the world, there has been a lack of conceptual clarification of what exactly the term means. What would a public service that is gender responsive look like, and what is missing from public services that make them inaccessible and inadequate?
In an attempt to answer these questions, ActionAid in collaboration with the Centre for Citizens’ Participation in the African Union, the Southern Africa Trust and UN Women held a global conference on GRPS earlier this month, bringing together government, citizens, civil society and youth activists from all over the world to strategise around gender responsive service delivery and inclusive governance. South Africa’s Dr Nkosazana Dhlamini-Zuma, African Union Commission Chairperson, opened the conference, sharing her thoughts on gender responsiveness and women’s empowerment.
What became increasingly clear as the meeting progressed is that the answer to what a GRPS would look like is best given by the people who use them day in and day out. The communities we work with across South Africa regularly utilise and access public institutions and service providers such as the police, clinics, schools and public transport. The issues and difficulties different people face, particularly women and youth, when accessing these services vary from context to context but there are some similarities.
In South Africa access to GRPS is an issue that comes up repeatedly, and remains at the forefront of our work. Whether it is the experience of lesbian women trying to access a discriminatory criminal justice system; young women being mistreated while accessing sexual and reproductive health services; or women and girls experiencing violence and sexual harassment while using public transport, it is clear that our public services fail to protect and fulfil the rights of citizens.
GRPS are not only fundamental for fulfilling women’s rights, but to also guarantee their safety and inclusion in cities and urban spaces, where a fear of violence or violation underpins the decisions they make when and how they attempt to access services. This is why GRPS is central to ActionAid’s Safe Cities for Women campaign.
At the recent conference, young people from Orange Farm who form part of the ActionAid Activista network spoke to delegates about their experiences of accessing public services. One young woman spoke about how she regularly skipped school when she was menstruating.
“I was raised by a single mother, who couldn’t afford to buy me sanitary towels when my monthly cycle came. I had to use alternatives like cloths. I had to skip school for the number of days my cycle went for. I say we need to ensure that no girl ever misses school because of this. ActionAid’s vision is to eliminate poverty and this cannot be achieved as long as there are women and girls who are uneducated.”
Her story is not unique. Girls missing school due to a lack of access to sanitary products is a common occurrence: it is estimated that girls in South Africa miss up to 10% of their schooling career due to menstrual related issues. Ensuring government and public schools dispense pads or tampons, and provide safe and clean sanitation for schoolgirls, forms part of the demand for GRPS.
It is clear that even in the context of generally unresponsive public services, women and LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning) people face specific challenges in accessing services. These challenges may be located in the legal framework, in the infrastructure of services; in their staff; or in the broader social fabric of the communities in which services are located. Our job as activists working alongside communities is to identify and challenge each pressure point that denies women and girls access to safe, quality and affordable public services. In doing so we not only contribute to an increase in the standard of public services, but have the potential to transform the lives of women — and all the people of South Africa.
Girls empowered to speak out
ActionAid South Africa is part of a consortium implementing a project that seeks to address sexual violence in schools in South Africa. Through three of our partners — The Teddy Bear Clinic (Johannesburg, Krugersdorp and Soweto); Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (Thohoyandou, Limpopo); and Xihlobo Xa Ndivho (Vhembe District, Limpopo), ActionAid is helping to empower schoolgirls by working with 12 girls clubs in Gauteng and Limpopo.
Girls are empowered with sex education, taught about their rights; about how to access sexual and reproductive health; as well as what channels to follow should they experience any form of violence or harassment, in and outside of school.
Through the girls clubs, pupils are encouraged to speak out against all forms of abuse, including the failure of some schools to implement the policies and mandates of the department of education.
The girls clubs work closely with school stakeholder forums, comprising representatives from key institutions such SAPS, government and traditional leadership. The forums promote citizen participation and community collaboration to eliminate sexual violence and all barriers to girls’ education, and to foster an enabling environment for learning and school retention for all girls