ArticlesMediaCorrectional Services, Gender-based ViolenceBehind the Bars of South African Prisons: Gendered Roles and Vulnerability of Male InmatesIn South African prisons, different kinds of sexual interactions and relationships take place between men. The majority of these are abusive, exploitative, and involve rape and various degrees of coercion. Newcomers to prison are especially vulnerable because they are unfamiliar with the "rules" of inmate culture and are easily manipulated. Seasoned inmates regard them as sources of material goods including… Read More CSVRFebruary 1, 2005
ArticlesMediaGender-based ViolenceWomen Sleeping with the EnemyOn June 15 1994, the senior specialised auxillary service officer wrote: "I am in the service of the Transvaal Provincial Administration and employed as a senior mortuary officer at the mortuary of the Baragwaneth Hospital of Johannesburg. "On 1996/06/11 at 08h00 in the performance of my official duties there the dead body of a black female was received from Phillip… Read More CSVRNovember 22, 2004
ArticlesMediaGender-based ViolenceMbeki and Smith Both Got It WrongStatistics, in and of themselves make for boring conversation and dull reading. Yet they leap to volatile political life when used to make arguments about race and violence, sex and death - as the angry exchanges between President Thabo Mbeki, anti-rape activist Charlene Smith and the Democratic Alliance's Ryan Coetzee demonstrate. These debates are important for the questions they raise… Read More CSVROctober 29, 2004
ArticlesMediaRacism, Transitional JusticeCrime, Security and Fear of the OtherEarlier this year a local couple made the news when they applied for asylum in the United States claiming that they were persecuted in South Africa on the basis of their race. The couple argued that as whites they would be the victims of crime if returned to South Africa, and they further feared they would be unemployed as a… Read More CSVRJune 4, 2004
ArticlesMediaGender-based ViolenceThe Quality of MercyIn 2001 Anita Ferreira was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her common-law partner Cyril Parkman. The court accepted that she has been severely and extensively abused, but did not find that his abuse was a mitigating factor. This Friday, March 12, the Supreme Court of Appeal will hear her case. You are 16 and pregnant. Your parents… Read More CSVRMarch 12, 2004
ArticlesMediaTransitional JusticeSouth Africa Cannot Afford the Culture of SecrecyIn asserting that public access to government-held information was essential to accountable processes of democratic rule, a United States Judge, Louis Brandeis, once said: "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the best policeman." Despite recognising that there are times when, in the interests of privacy or state security, such information might be withheld from the… Read More CSVRDecember 10, 2003
