Gender Based Violence

Based: Johannesburg

I am a feminist organizer pursuing my honor’s degree in Social Work, at the University of the Witwatersrand. I am the founder and chairperson of Black Womxn Caucus, a social movement that uses feminist popular culture and education to advocate against Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) and its manifestations on a micro, meso and macro level. We use feminist perspectives rooted in equity to develop a holistic understanding of the political,social, economic, geographical, physical and psychological implications of GBVF in South Africa.

Under my leadership, Black Womxn Caucus was instrumental in ensuring the first National Summit Against Gender Based Violence was held in November 2018 through the office of the Presidency. In addition, Black Womxn Caucus remains active in several other governmental consultative processes. Subsequently I am a part of the subcommittee for the Prevention Thematic Portfolio under the National Strategic Plan (NSP) against GBVF; where I provide insight on prevention from a youth perspective taking into account women and girls both inside and outside the school system and economic processes. I am currently co-chairing the civil society delegation that is in negotiation with several business formations and the state to find ways in which the private sector can be actively involved in ending GBVF.

I have worked in several health related facilities including Headway: The Brain Injury Association; Avalon: Home for People Living with Disabilities and Helen Joseph Hospital- a tertiary academic healthcare facility. My passion for access to quality primary healthcare finds expression both through my professional career as well as activism. I have recently been appointed as a board member for the Centre of Family Health Initiative (CFHI) operating from Nigeria. CFHI and has been granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

I am the former national campaign coordinator for a campaign that was demanding for feminist governance practices during the 2019 National General Elections in South Africa. The campaign mobilized and organized womxn in five of the nine provinces. My responsibilities included: provide logistical, administrative and communication support to the campaign platform and the Oxfam South Africa Women’s Economic Empowerment and lead through campaign plan, research, analyze and design.

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