FF-Equal Education Monitoring 5/24/2018

Online Sources

1. Media, patriarchy and society: Unpacking the 2018 women’s budget vote

   May 24, 2018 | Mail & Guardian

   By Bathabile Dlamini
   
   
   Last week, on 17 May 2018, the Ministry in the Presidency responsible for Women delivered the Budget Vote speech for the 2018/2019 financial year.
2. Social justice organisations are not squeaky clean, and we must do better

   May 23, 2018 | Mail & Guardian

   By Nicolette Naylor
   
   
   As the local director of a funding organisation, a human rights attorney, and as a South African woman, I am glad this country is now having a serious conversation about sexual harassment and violence against women in our workplaces. It is long overdue.
3. Donors pause Equal Education funding after sexual harassment scandal

   May 23, 2018 | Mail & Guardian

   By Rumana Akoob and Simon Allison
   
   
   Two of Equal Education’s donors have suspended funding in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal that has engulfed the civil society organisation.

Online Sources

1. Media, patriarchy and society: Unpacking the 2018 women’s budget vote

   May 24, 2018 | Mail & Guardian

   By Bathabile Dlamini

   Last week, on 17 May 2018, the Ministry in the Presidency responsible for Women delivered the Budget Vote speech for the 2018/2019 financial year. The speech detailed, amongst others, the achievements of the department in the previous financial cycle, the challenges faced by the department and South African women at large, as well as our plans for the immediate future. 

   Central to the challenges we identified as facing our present reality is the brazen culture of violence against women throughout the country. We thus used the Budget Vote to make a call to all agents of society to rally together against patriarchy.

   We also commended all members of society who have been vigilant in various ways to end violence and champion the cause towards gender transformation. We are clear in our conviction that society can address neither class nor race inequalities without changing the power relations that sustain patriarchal cultures.

   To convey this message to the rest of the country, we rely on all sectors of society, particularly the media for its ability to transmit information across time and space. We commended media agents that have remained vigilant in reporting gendered violence, particularly the concerning femicide rates throughout the country.

   We also acknowledge and are proud of the structural advances made by the media industry as both an employer and as a conduit for the dissemination of news and information to the wider public. Not only have more women taken seats in the executive structures of media companies ― but print, electronic and social media institutions have also contributed to the growth of contemporary feminist campaigns such as #patriarchymustfall, #pressforchange, #metoo, #timeisnow, #notinmyname, and many others.

   A few hours after our Budget Vote, for example, radio host Masechaba Ndlovu hosted an interview with Bongekile Simelane, popularly known as Babes Wodumo, in which she confronted her about allegations of intimate-partner violence perpetrated on the young artist. This discussion was propelled to social media platforms, where it subsequently mobilised large parts of society into breaking the silence in their respective subjective locations.

   The contrasting reactions to this were striking. Those who criticised Masechaba argued that she should not have confronted Babes Wodumo about matters of a “personal nature” on a public platform. Instead of these voices condemning the alleged abuse of Babes Wodumo at the hands of her boyfriend, they attacked Masechaba for talking about “personal matters in public”.

   Intimate-partner and domestic violence thrives on the silence of the abused and those who witness it. A health survey conducted by Stats SA reveals that 21% of women over 18 in South Africa or one in five women have experienced violence by their partners. Shockingly, women between the ages of 14 and 29 accounted for about 39% of femicides and African women accounted for about 78% of these.

   These figures are both alarming and prove that South African women live in a war zone. Silence is no longer an option!

   We commend Masechaba Ndlovu for using her position of influence to contribute positively to the much-valued and needed culture of militancy in our approach to addressing violence on women. Sexual harassment and gendered violence between lovers, family members or peers is not a private matter.

   During our Budget Vote Speech we also highlighted and critiqued the existing challenges within all social structures and agents of socialisation, including the media.

   It has long been established that the most dominant agents of socialisation are the family, schools, religious institutions, peers and the media. These institutions exist solely to construct our perceptions of self as both individuals and as members of societies.

   For centuries, these institutions have corroborated to reinforce social and economic imbalances along race, class and gender lines. White, conservative and economically privileged elite men remain at the apex of the social order. Black, economically despondent women are positioned at the alternative end.

   It is also a fact of our reality that to maintain its power position, western capitalist patriarchy depends on its control of the means of production, information and resources of the global education systems, religious doctrine/s, and media industries.

   Noting this, we used our Budget Vote to emphasise that meaningful change requires the complete and radical transformation of gendered family relations, structures or legends; gendered economies; gendered religious doctrines; gendered religious leadership hierarchies; gendered discourse amongst peers; gendered traditional laws; gendered patterns of intellectual ownership; gendered jokes; gendered literature in the education sector; and gendered narratives in the media.

   However, following our delivery of the Budget Vote speech, various media institutions chose to report, as their dominant narrative, only our critique of the industry. There is not a strand of irony missing from this choice.

   We are fully aware that similar to other struggles for social justice, including against racial and class inequalities, the struggle for gender equality is political at best, and freedom will not be attained easily. We are also fully aware that by the sheer threat of this radical gendered transformation to the traditional race and class global status quo, those in power take interest to dispose of their economic, political and physical resources in resistance to change.

   But as poignantly asserted by Zenani Mandela at the funeral of her mother, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, “I say ‘fight’ because the battle for our freedom was not some polite picnic at which you arrived armed with your best behavior.”

   It is up to the individuals within society, particularly those in the dominant institutions that control social ideas, to introspect on our collective roles in either perpetuating or ending violence against women. Just as we are working tirelessly to transform the state through various means, including Gender Responsive Budgeting and ensuring that Gender Focal Points are positioned at Senior Management levels, we also implore the private sector, civil society, faith-based institutions, the media, and others to do the same.

   The constructing role of the media to dominant social ideas is important for this quest. Stereotypes in commercials, movies, news, and other forms of media platforms serve to reinforce and reproduce our collective ideas about what it means to be either a man or a woman. Television, Radio, Newspapers and Magazines, and social media perpetuate ‘appropriate’ gender stereotypes, behaviors and appearances. These are tied to images of men as owners of industries and leaders of perfect families versus depictions of women as wives, care-givers, and sexual objects.

   As we did during the delivery of our Budget Vote, we reiterate that women in the industry who continue to partake in the re/distribution of gendered stereotypes are contributing to the reinforcement and perpetuation of patriarchal norms and harmful practices against women. As noted by scholar bell hooks, “patriarchy has no gender.”

   Socially conscious journalism requires those in the media industry, in the exercise of their rights and choices, to also assume responsibility for disseminating information in a manner that contributes positively to the broader struggle for gender equality.

   We refuse to allow the public gaze on our potentially transformative critique of the media industry to shy focus from our commendation of those who have devoted their media platforms to changing social ideas about women and men.

   We also applaud those in the private sector and civil society who have worked relentlessly to expose sexual harassment in workplaces and shop floors, such as the recent developments at Equal Education, the University of the Free State, and the global #MeToo campaign.

   We are closer now then we have ever been as a society towards meaningful gender transformation. Our struggle will be strengthened if those interested in change gather together to rebel against oppressive structures. The media should be at the heart of this rebellion. No man or woman can remain indifferent to or disengaged from challenges we face as a country in relation to gender-based violence and in the fight to advance the course for gender equality.

   We call on all macro and micro business, NGOs, faith-based institutions, the men’s sector, the judiciary, leaders of institutions of basic and higher learning, different political formations, community-based organisations, and individuals to join in. None of us are safe until all of us fight together!

   Bathabile Dlamini, MP, is the Minister in the Presidency Responsible for Women.

   https://mg.co.za/article/2018-05-24-media-patriarchy-and-society-unpacking-the-2018-womens-budget-vote
   

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2. Social justice organisations are not squeaky clean, and we must do better

   May 23, 2018 | Mail & Guardian

   By Nicolette Naylor

   As the local director of a funding organisation, a human rights attorney, and as a South African woman, I am glad this country is now having a serious conversation about sexual harassment and violence against women in our workplaces. It is long overdue. And to be clear, it is not only overdue generally, it is particularly overdue among social justice organisations.

   But I’m worried that we are not really interrogating this complex subject as we should. Our attention is drawn to specific cases and specific organisations, but perhaps we should be interrogating the larger narratives we tell ourselves and the way in which we silence the violence and trauma associated with sexual harassment in the workplace. If we think of these cases as isolated incidents and never possible in our own organisation, then we are missing a critical moment to examine our own practices and the values we espouse as institutions devoted to the fight for social justice and human dignity.

   Many of us who join the social sector hold it in high regard, even above reproach, and we enter this work to fight the good fight. So, when our heroes disappoint and end up exploiting and harming us, we quietly pretend it never happened, and we keep silent. This is like keeping abuse within the family quiet for fear of bringing shame. Or perhaps, more perilously, we are in denial about the existence of violence and abuse within our sacred social justice spaces. Yet we know that power and patriarchy come together in workplaces of all kinds — from Harvey Weinstein studios in Hollywood, to the domestic aide working for a ‘madam and baas’ in Sandton, to the farm worker in rural South Africa who submits for fear of reduced work or wages, to corporate corridors where senior executives coerce junior employees, and on and on.

   It’s simply not safe for women anywhere, and that includes the social justice sector, with all its values and aspirations. It’s time we dispelled the myth that social justice organisations are squeaky clean and have no racism, no sexism, no homophobia. For too long South African women have been silent in the name of the greater struggle against apartheid or racism and have not wanted to point fingers at men who fight alongside us in the name of social justice. This has to stop once and for all — and we need to protect the brave, courageous women who do come forward without labelling them as vindictive or liars.
   

   It’s time to speak about just how hard it is to overthrow systems of patriarchy and how they infiltrate the way we work, live and love. It’s time to think about how we transform institutions in terms of not only more black women leaders but also how we transform masculinist patriarchal cultures. We all need to do better, including social justice donors like my own organisation.

   So let me call out what should be obvious but needs to be actively asserted and owned:

   The fact that you are a brilliant legal mind on matters of land and mining does not mean that you are not capable of being a predator or a sexual harasser.

   Your brilliance at activism, movement building and community organising does not insulate you from being sexist or racist or violent.

   Your anti-apartheid credentials do not automatically mean that you are never, ever capable of rape.

   The fact that you personally know someone as being smart, thoughtful, and on the right side of social justice or able to use feminist language does not mean that women who make allegations against that person are liars.

   Many, many years ago, when I was trained as a rape crisis counsellor, we were asked to close our eyes and picture a rapist who had done horrible things. The facilitator took us through the whole story of the woman — going for drinks after work, laughing too loudly with her assailant, dancing with him, leaving the bar with him, and then coming forward the next day after being violently raped and beaten. The facilitator stopped to check whether we would blame the woman or believe the woman. We all believed, because we know the story very well. But then we were asked to keep our eyes closed and imagine the rapist as a man we loved and admired — a father, a brother, a best friend, or someone famous. Now how did we react to the story, and how did we assess the woman?

   Here’s the point: powerful, smart, good-looking, charismatic men do rape, harass and exploit women. It happens in the corridors of power within governments, corporations, universities, religious institutions, and yes, it happens in our social justice institutions. So, let’s not get defensive, but rather spend more time interrogating how we really shift and transform organisations in terms of our vision for a just and fair society.

   Acknowledging the tricky power dynamics between funders and the organisations we support, I’d nonetheless like to make some initial suggestions for what we might collectively start thinking about:

   ·  We should all agree that there is a higher duty of care with social justice organisations in cases of sexual harassment, racism and homophobia and come together to develop a common set of principles and values to hold ourselves as a sector to account.  This could include how we define zero tolerance and acceptable due diligence amongst civil society organisations. How do we provide technical support to assist organisations to navigate sexual harassment cases and awareness better?

   ·  We could try to break the silence by documenting and sharing good practices for handling cases of sexual harassment and speak more openly and publicly about the challenges faced when implementing policy at all levels in the organisation (staff, leadership and board) bearing in mind the importance of protecting complainants’ privacy and rights at all times.

   ·  We need to workshop how best donors can support a transformative agenda in this space that is less reactive, and geared toward addressing systemic and structural challenges.  When is it appropriate to take a punitive approach and when should our approach be supportive?  When should we act decisively and terminate relationships and when should we pause and wait to see how organisations respond? These are questions we must openly grapple with. And all of us (including donors) should regularly interrogate and test our own prejudice, privilege and biases in terms of whether we are applying the same standards and principles to all our partners and ourselves in our own practice.

   Sexual harassment scandals should be a loud wake-up call for all of us to dig deep and interrogate our ‘holier than thou’ approach to sexism and racism within our own institutions because once we move out of denial, we may allow ourselves to be angry, to rage, to cry and to heal so that we can move into the realm of accountability.

   Maybe then we will be able to get on with working to dismantle prejudice, inequality and patriarchy, one brick at a time.

   Nicolette Naylor is the Director of the Ford Foundation Office for Southern Africa

   https://mg.co.za/article/2018-05-23-social-justice-organisations-are-not-squeaky-clean-and-we-must-do-better
   

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3. Donors pause Equal Education funding after sexual harassment scandal

   May 23, 2018 | Mail & Guardian

   By Rumana Akoob and Simon Allison

   Two of Equal Education’s donors have suspended funding in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal that has engulfed the civil society organisation.

   Both Comic Relief and the Wallace Global Fund said they would not be making any further grants until they are convinced the sexual harassment allegations have been adequately investigated.

   “Comic Relief has been made aware of the allegations about Equal Education and is investigating this situation as a matter of urgency. Any form of bullying, abuse or harassment is totally unacceptable and we will always take any reports of this type of behaviour very seriously,” said spokesperson Ben Maitland. According to Comic Relief, they have made grants worth over R10-million to support initiatives delivered by Equal Education.

   Former Equal Education general secretary Tshepo Motsepe, former head of national organising Luyolo Mazwembe, and co-founder and former treasurer Doron Isaacs are all facing separate sexual harassment allegations, as revealed last week in the Mail & Guardian. All three men deny the allegations against them. Equal Education has established an independent panel to investigate Motsepe, and promised to convene a separate panel to look into other allegations.

   “It was troubling to learn from the media of the disturbing allegations of a pattern of sexual harassment within the organization,” said Ellen Dorsey, CEO of the Wallace Global Fund, in a written response to the M&G. The italics are her own. “As we are a foundation based in the US without staff in South Africa to monitor actions of the organization on a routine basis, it is difficult to have an informed opinion on the veracity of the claims. However, we know that typically survivors do not come forward at great risk to themselves without cause. We will not make another grant until we have done further due diligence and are convinced that the allegations have been adequately investigated by the board through an outside and transparent process.”

   Fatima Hassan, the director of Open Society Foundation South Africa (OSF-SA) said they were “deeply concerned” about the allegations, but encouraged by Equal Education’s willingness to “subject itself and its processes to scrutiny and review”.

   She said that OSF-SA will increase its scrutiny of other grantees. “We do intend to meet with each and every one of our grantees in the weeks ahead, in a proactive way, to examine whether the organisations that we fund have mechanisms to report and expose any sexual misconduct by those in power to ensure that there are consequences for such unacceptable and illegal conduct.” Hassan said. 

   In 2018, OSF-SA said they gave Equal Education a grant of R1-million. An additional R4.3 million came from the Open Society Foundation.

   The Raith Foundation said it had been made aware of sexual harassment allegations as far back as 2011, via rumours, but that they accepted that an independent investigation into those allegations had been conducted. Equal Education’s current management have raised serious concerns about whether that investigation was truly independent.

   Porticus Foundation, another of Equal Education’s funders, said they have requested the organisation to give them progress updates on the independent investigative panel announced last week and requested that support be given to survivors.

   Sigrid Rausing Trust, who has given Equal Education over R12-million, according to their website, said the nature and outcome of the inquiries will inform their relationship with Equal Education and said “so far we have been impressed by the progress made”.

   Stuart Craig, the CEO of the Canon Collins Trust said “collaborative work between Equal Education and the Canon Collins Trust does not appear to have been affected so far by these allegations”. He said the Trust regards the allegations as serious and disturbing.

   Nicollette Naylor, Director of the South African office of The Ford Foundation said the story emerging at Equal Education was a “microcosm of a larger, systemic problem across sectors and across societies, and all of us have a role to play in addressing this problem and transforming the social and professional cultures we are part of”.

   Ford said they believed Equal Education was responding to allegations with appropriate gravity, urgency, and transparency. Since 2010, the FF said they have made six grants to Equal Education, coming to a total of R2.5-million. The current grant expires at the end of this year.

   The David & Elaine Potter Foundation said they were aware of the issues but would be making no further comment.

   Isaacs is a fellow with the Ashoka Foundation, an international organisation that promotes social entrepreneurship, but his page has been removed from their website.

   https://mg.co.za/article/2018-05-23-donors-pause-equal-education-funding-after-sexual-harassment-scandal-1
   

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