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Women’s Legal Centre (South Africa)
The WLC seeks to advance the struggle for equality for women, particularly black women, who suffer socio-economic disadvantage, through the promotion and development of human rights for women.
Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA)

WLSA (Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust) is a regional non-governmental organisation (NGO) that conducts research about women’s human rights in seven countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. WLSA thus defines its vision as a society with social justice and equality, and is committed to defending human rights in general.

Law and Sharia Consultants
Law and Sharia Consultants is a consultancy group based in Cape Town, South Africa. Apart from promoting the research of various issues pertaining to the application of Muslim Personal Law in South Africa, this website also highlights the services it offers and acts as a resource for our outreach initiatives.
Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC)
The HSRC has equipped itself to respond flexibly and comprehensively to national requirements, by aligning its research capabilities into the following interdisciplinary, problem-orientated, research programmes: Education and Skills Development, Economic Performance and Development, Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation, HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB (including the Africa-wide research network, SAHARA), Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery, and also Human and Social Development.
Resources at Marriage and Intra-household Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia and South Africa
The authors test the unitary versus collective model of the household using specially designed data from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa. Human capital and individual assets at the time of marriage are used as proxy measures for bargaining power. In all four countries, we reject the unitary model as a description of household behaviour, but fail to reject the hypothesis that households are Pareto-efficient. In Bangladesh and South Africa, women's assets increase expenditure shares on education, while in Ethiopia it is men's assets that have this effect.
International: Islamic Texts as a Source for Acceptance of Queer Individuals

Queer Muslims face a multitude of challenges, of which one is rejection. This is anchored by the belief that homosexuality is a major sin in Islam and punishable by death under Shariah law. The Inner Circle has documented through engaging with the local Muslim community of Cape Town that most people who react harshly towards queer Muslims do so from a position of fear and ignorance of the challenges facing queer Muslims.

South Africa: 500 gay couples married in first country in Southern Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage

It was another picture-perfect wedding at the foot of Table Mountain, recalled the Rev. Daniel Brits. Inside the chapel, a female vocalist sang “Wind Beneath My Wings” before he led the nervous couple through their vows surrounded by family and friends a few weeks ago. That the betrothed were two men gave few of the guests pause. For Mr. Brits, it was all in a day’s work. After all, he says, he has married more than 500 gay couples in the four years since South Africa became the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage, a distinction that ended only this month when Argentina did the same.

South Africa: When 'Traditional Values' are a Stick to Beat Women

When he opened the House of Traditional Leaders this week, President Jacob Zuma reiterated his call for a national debate on a moral code and on the values of South Africans. He argued that traditional leaders could play an important role in service delivery and rural development. The president quoted Albert Luthuli's famous model of leadership: "A chief is primarily a servant of his people." By Pregs Govender

Africa: 30 days of advocacy against Witch-hunts

29 March to 27 April 2010 (Global): The witchcraft epidemic in Africa is fueled by religious extremism. Practitioners of traditional African religions, traditional healers, witch-doctors and Christian missionaries and religious leaders incite witch-hunts on this continent. There are comparisons to be made between Africas current witch-craze, European Inquisitions and American witch-hunts. Perhaps the lessons to be learned in Africa are the same as those that needed to be learned by Europeans and Americans; there is no culture without human rights. All men and women, including Witches, have the right to live without being falsely accused, assaulted, persecuted or murdered.

Africa: Responding to Violence against Sexual Minorities

08/03/2010: We need to understand what it means to be heterosexual as well as homosexual, and that our sexualities affect whether we live or die. During this 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the 15+year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform, the Coalition of African Lesbians (“CAL”) reinforces that: LGBTI rights are human rights, that we are not claiming or asking for “special” or “additional” rights BUT that we call on our African governments to condemn the violence perpetrated against sexual minorities, to refrain from engaging in this violence and to take all measures to ensure the protection of sexual minorities, in particular, lesbian and transgender women subjected to violence.

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