It is with disgust and incredulity that I read daily about the heinous crime of “corrective rape” that is still taking place on the streets of South Africa, especially in the “African Townships” (basically poorer suburbs inhabited by Africans, such as Soweto, Gugulethu, Langa, Kayalitsha etc.) Corrective rape is “the rape of a lesbian by a man either to punish her or cure and correct her sexual orientation”.

Despite South Africa having a very liberal constitution, which forbids discrimination against LGBTs ( Lesbians, gays, Bisexuals and Transgendered persons), lesbian women are constantly being targeted in hate crimes, where the aim is for lesbian women, especially “butch” women to be beaten up and raped (often gang-raped) to “teach them what they are and what a woman should be like”,  sometimes by their own male friends. Read More…

Posted under Gender equality

The ongoing debate as to whether the sex trade in South Africa should be decriminalised or legalised has gained momentum as the 2010 Soccer World Cup approaches. In this article we take a look at various reasons why this should happen, and ask for your feedback.

The decriminalisation of sex work is recommended in South Africa’s HIV and AIDS and STI National Strategic Plan (2007-2011), and supported by both South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), but the process of changing the law remains under the South African Law Reform Commission, which began reviewing the Sexual Offences Act seven years ago. An initial bill for parliamentary debate is not expected to be ready until March 2010, and any changes in legislation would not be passed before 2011. In the meantime, advocates of decriminalisation have called for a moratorium on arrests of sex workers during the World Cup. Read More…

Posted under HIV / AIDS

Today is World Aids Day. It is being recognized around the world. Google and Twitter have changed their homepages to a red background.

Aids Epidemic Update reports that the total number of world-wide infections has been declining by 17% over the last 8 years. Still 33,4 million people are infected with HIV – that’s more than ever before. The victims live longer

due to improved therapies that weren’t available in the early stages of the epidemic. Treating these patients requires a lot of resources. Therefore every prevention of an infection is saving us a big amount of money.

Just imagine if some of this money not spent on treatments would flow into increased prevention efforts?

Based on an estimate 2.7 million people were infected with HIV last year. 2.3 out of these 2.7 million infections are estimated to have happened in the Sub-Sahara region. The second region of new infections is South East Asia with 310,000 new infections. Europe (40,000) and USA (52,000) have much lower numbers. Read More…

Posted under HIV / AIDS

South Africa is currently preparing for the World Cup 2010, not only one of the biggest events of the world, but an opportunity for improving lives of the citizens. The South Africa government is committed to improving infrastructure and security to ensure Africa’s first Fifa world cup event.

As South Africa is preparing for this big event, awareness needs to be brought to this potential violence lurking in the shadows. According to an article posted on 3/27/09 on Dispatch Online, World Cup 2010 may be promising more than economic and national growth for South Africa. There is a growing fear of human trafficking emerging ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, much like the organized sex trade that Germany had when they hosted the event in 2006.

The area most likely to be targeted for prostitution is the Eastern Cape, which has recently been named as the worst slave trade province in the country. This is due to the high poverty rate and lack of resources. Tourism and prostitution tend to go together, mainly in poverty stricken areas, where the lure of money is attractive to young girls. But in a country with already astronomical rates of HIV, AIDS and sexual violence, this projection can’t be ignored.

As South Africa develops better sports facilities and transportation system, and improves its roads and telecommunications infrastructure, we hope that the government is not ignoring the needs of the poverty- stricken areas not in the media spotlight.

Posted under 2010 World Cup

We can no longer afford indifference outside our borders.

The words of President Obama rocked the nation today. We have found ourselves at the point where our “collective failure” to make conscious decisions have led us to the current climate in our country. Not only has our economy collapsed, but the social system can no longer support the citizens of the most powerful and technologically advanced nation.

If there’s one thing today’s age of globalization has taught me is that we are all connected in our humanity.  Internet and social media platforms have allowed for global unity and despair. When the planes attacked the World Trade Center on 9/11, the world wept in sadness. When the NY stock market crashed, economies all over the globe felt the fall. And today as we inaugurated the first African American president, other nations felt the joy and pride in our hearts. Read More…

Posted under Everything Else

We have spend quite some time on screening many organizations doing great work on the ground in South Africa.

Today we are happy to announce a far reaching partnership with the South African organization Sonke Gender Justice. This is a milestone for Ubuntu Now / South Africa Project since we consider Sonke Gender Justice an excellent partner for our rape & HIV/AIDS prevention program. They have an amazing team and their programs, including One Man Can, are simply outstanding. Read More…

Posted under Everything Else, Meeting South Africa

I just read another article full of disturbing facts in the German magazine Der Spiegel and have to share this with you:

The new Health Minister in South Africa, Barbara Hogan just stated: “We know that HIV can cause AIDS”. It is hard to believe but this an almost revolutionary shift in South Africa’s official policy. She also stated that the “policy of our government has failed”. FINALLY! Read More…

Posted under Gender equality, Meeting South Africa