Gender Justice

Our Programmes

Gender Justice

Support to CBOs to strengthen their GBV activism and collaboration with local state actors

Our Gender-Based Violence Programme is known as Masibambisane (meaning unite, holding hands, let’s work together in isiZulu) and aims to improve accountability for GBV at the local level. The programme reaches all nine provinces and currently supports 23 community organisations through grants to strengthen activism against and prevention of GBV in their area through collaborative partnerships across civil society, government and the private sector.

Organisations are supported to create GBV-Free Zones by:

Consolidating and expanding their existing GBV awareness and prevention activity in the community e.g. door-to-door, activation campaigns, workshops, events

Forming or strengthening GBV Local Stakeholder Committees (or the equivalent active structure or forum in the community) with legal and advocacy skills training. LSCs meet quarterly or monthly to strengthen local collaboration on GBV and to contribute to the National Strategic Plan (NSP) response on GBV in South Africa.

Food growing training and support through agroecology initiatives is also offered to Masibambisane partners and a wider range of 20 community organisations, so that GBV survivors have safer spaces to gather and find practical ways towards resilience (financial and other).

Our LGBTQIA+ programming currently prioritizes policy influencing, sector coordination and support of framework refining and implementation through participation in task teams of government and civil society at national level.

Psychosocial support is integral to all FHR programmes:

Marginalised communities face many stressors, including high unemployment rates, violence, and limited access to healthcare. These factors significantly impact individuals’ mental well-being, leading to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and other psychosocial challenges. FHR prioritizes collective methods of healing and peer psychosocial support that is integrated into all processes with partners through a Do No Harm praxis.

Tracking and reporting on GBV incidences in their community routinely and through an annual GBV Household Survey

Our Human Rights School and Youth Clubs are complementary to the Masibambisane Programme, with GBV awareness and prevention a central theme for clubs. Mentors from the school or community guide the clubs to use a set of 4-8 minute constitutional rights animation videos produced by FHR. Each short video has a how-to-use guidance note. For more, see the Community Engagement Programme.