Cape Town - With Women’s day celebrated this past week, the Weekend Argus took to the streets of Cape Town to ask ordinary women about their views on what it takes to be a woman in SA today, and issues such as inequality and gender based violence.
Well, it seems 66 six years after thousands of women marched to the Union Buildings, many South African women believe that there is little to celebrate on Women's Day especially because of the persistent rise in gender-based violence cases and ongoing gender inequality.
Freelance artist Hlumelo Yawa, she said that a lot needs to happen for her to see a difference.
“My definition of a woman is a phenomenon above man's phenomena. A light that paves the way. A graceful being that endures all this hardship thrown against her and yet she loves unconditionally. However, given the current climate, I’m not happy as a woman in South Africa.
“Living in a place that’s labelled as the rape capital of the world is crazy to me and I believe it because it is true. Gender-based violence has been the main component in South Africa and it gets worse. Walking down the street is a risk because we have to be aware of our surroundings all the time.
“Being catcalled in the streets makes it so uncomfortable for us to walk freely and easily in the streets, or in the workplace. Practically everywhere. It’s simple - I believe there are many women who are talented and intelligent and deserve to be treated as such. The police system needs to improve and these perpetrators need to be held accountable and punished for their crimes,” said Yawa.
Michelle Saunders who works as an independent yacht contractor at the V&A Waterfront, said that she was the only female salesperson in a company filled with male sales people. She believes that women should mould young boys and girls to respect and honour women, and remind them of the struggle women had to fight to be equal.
“I believe women need to be more empowered not only at work but also in the community. Women need to feel safe in all places.
“Most people focus on men and society overpowering women, however, women are also disempowering each other instead of uplifting and encouraging each other by. We as women must also respect each other. We as women should mould our children, boys and girls to respect and honour women and remind them of the struggle women had to fight to be equal and gain respect,” said Saunders.
Sterna Fourie, Managing Director at Shimansky said that from her perceptive, women are unique.
"Woman are valuable members of society and we are opinionated, articulate and strong willed. We are all unique and this it the beauty. However, the climate around woman in the country a negative impact on mental, physical & emotional health for survivors. GBV is a human rights violation and significant barrier to achieving gender equality
"What needs to happen is that more developing needs to happen where there are support programs for trauma addressing needs of child survivors. We as woman need to value our self esteem, have a kind heart and be empathetic and earn the respect we need to listen to others, show gratitude and compliment achievements of others," said Fourie.