SA Barometer 2013 Executive Summary

With less than two years left before the deadline for the 28 targets of the SADC Gender Protocol to be achieved, South Africa is among the top three performers in the region using indicators based on empirical data and citizen perceptions.

However, sterling performance in some areas – notably education and political participation – is not matched in others. Contradictions between the Constitution; custom, culture and religion; HIV and AIDS and gender violence threaten to roll back fragile gains. There are still glaring gender gaps in the economic sphere. Overall, there are about as many “redÀ lights as there are “greenÀ lights in the South Africa Barometer.

The 2013 South African SADC Gender Barometer has been produced by Gender Links (GL), the coordinator of the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance, in partnership with South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID), the Alliance Country Network. In August 2013, GL and SAWID, with support from the European Union South Africa (EUSA) conducted consultations in all nine provinces under the banner Women Demand Action Now! These actions intersperse the pages of this report, signified by the “Speak out, bua, khulumaÀ icon. The voices of over one thousand women canvassed during Women’s Month illuminate the factual findings at the heart of this tracking exercise.

Download : Executive summary