VZCZCXRO2755
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #2618 3561226
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221226Z DEC 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0685
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS PRETORIA 002618 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/GWI SABA GORI AND RUTH BENNETT, INL/AAE 
LENDSEY SMALLS AND AF/EPS CAMILLE JACKSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM ECON AORC SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM SEMINAR: IS 
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ENOUGH? 
 
REF: STATE 120322 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Kicking off South Africa's observance of the 
16 Days of Activism, Commissioner for Gender Equality Dr. 
Yvette Abrahams led a discussion on the social norms and 
material conditions that give rise to gender-based violence 
in South Africa.  Activists in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria 
participated via digital video conference in the event hosted 
by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).  Participants 
agreed that South Africa suffers from unacceptable levels of 
gender-based violence and concurred that an elevated level of 
violence in South African society is part of the lingering 
legacy of apartheid, but several participants challenged Dr. 
Abrahams' contention that economic empowerment for women is 
the single most important factor in eliminating gender-based 
violence, calling for changes in traditional culture(s) that 
allow violence against women and children to continue at 
unacceptable levels. End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The HSRC hosted a November 27 DVC-linked seminar in 
Pretoria to kick-off South Africa's 10th annual observance of 
the international 16 Days of Activism to end violence against 
women and girls.  Commissioner for Gender Equality Dr. Yvette 
Abrahams delivered a presentation designed to put the issue 
of gender-based violence in a social and economic context. 
Abrahams opened with an assertion that one-third of the world 
GDP comes from the unpaid labor of women.  She said 
twenty-nine percent of South African women live on land under 
customary ownership, adding that only two percent of South 
African women own land.  Since South Africa's transition, 
according to Abrahams, only 20 to 30 percent of redistributed 
land has gone to women, despite the fact that eighty percent 
of agricultural labor in South Africa is done by women. 
Abrahams noted that unemployment is 30.8 percent for women in 
South Africa, compared to 21.1 percent for men.  She said 
women-headed households are twice as likely to go hungry as 
men-headed households.  According to Abrahams, the economic 
empowerment of women is the single most important factor in 
the elimination of violence against women and girls. 
 
¶3. (U) During the Q & A session, several participants 
challenged Abraham's assumptions, claiming that improvements 
in material conditions for women in South Africa since the 
transition have not reduced the incidence of gender-based 
violence (GBV).  Several participants noted that GBV is 
prevalent even among highly educated South Africans.  One 
participant suggested that more work is needed to study the 
role of women in traditional cultures.  Another participant 
said that GBV is as much a problem among white South Africans 
as among blacks.  Abraham agreed with participants who 
observed that high levels of violence in society became 
normalized under apartheid, and all agreed that it may take a 
generation for South Africa to reduce the level of violence 
in society. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Asked by an NGO participant why South Africa 
initially objected to the establishment of a UN Special 
Rapporteur on Gender-Based Violence, Abrahams said she had 
been astonished to learn that South Africa had opposed the 
measure.  She commented that South Africa's PERMREP should be 
voting in a manner that is consistent with South Africa's 
constitution, and she commented that she assumed the vote was 
taken without instructions from Pretoria. (Note:  South 
African Activist Rashida Manjoo was appointed UN Special 
QAfrican Activist Rashida Manjoo was appointed UN Special 
Rapporteur on Violence Against Women in August 2009, lending 
credence to Abrahams' suggestion that a vote opposing the 
mandate may have been a glitch.  End note). 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: The sparsely attended HSRC seminar was one 
of the key events marking South Africa's 2009 observance of 
the 16 Days of Activism, along with government press releases 
and announcements on government websites. There is a core of 
activists in South Africa who remain engaged full-time on 
combating violence against women and children, but there is a 
still a long way to go before the awareness and activism 
results in widespread change in a society still handicapped 
by unacceptable levels of violence, especially against women 
and girls.  End comment. 
GIPS