SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Social and economic rights to challenge violence against women - examining and extending strategies

Social and economic rights offer to address some of the underlying conditions that expose women to violence thus potentially performing a preventative function.

Decolonising Equality : The Radical Roots of the Gender Equality Clause in the South African Constitution

This paper works to address arguments that the South African Constitution is an example of coloniality by connecting the Constitution’s equality clause with the struggles by black women. The paper summarizes advocacy, protests, and demonstrations by African women, particularly black women, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Engendering Socio-Economic Rights

Sandra Fredman argues that the mere extension of socio-economic rights to women is insufficient to achieve equality. In order for those rights to be meaningful, they need to be 'engendered' or infused with substantive gender equality. This better addresses the ability of women to exercise their rights. She argues that socio-economic rights should be re-conceptualized; rather than viewing rights as extending 'bundles of goods' in fixed amounts, socio-economic rights should be understood as capabilities.