Women's Month in South Africa

Every year, in August, our country marks Women’s Month. We also pay tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.

We will celebrate this year’s Women Month under the theme: “Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an Equal Future”. The concept of Generation Equality is a global campaign that links South Africa to global efforts to achieve gender equality by 2030, led by UN Women.

Women’s Month is a tribute not only to the thousands of women who marched on that day in 1956, but also a tribute to the pioneers of the women’s movement in this country, dating back to 1913, when women like Charlotte Maxeke led the way in establishing the ANC Women’s League and encouraging women to engage in the struggle for freedom. Pioneers include Cissy, Jaynab and Amina Gool, who were amongst the leaders of the National Liberation League and the Non-European United Front of the 1930s.

The names of Ray Alexander Simons, Elizabeth Mafikeng and Elizabeth Abrahams will always be associated with the struggles of women. In the 1940s Amina Pahad and Gadijah Christopher, who were amongst the first volunteers to occupy the site of the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign on Umbilo Road in Durban cannot go unnoticed.

This day of commemoration has great significance to us as Black Women, in South Africa, and across the diaspora, not just in reminding us to acknowledge the past struggles of these incredible Women leaders, and the movements they represented, but to feel motivated to continue to progress and expand our rights. This is what SisterLove fights for everyday.

To learn more about our activism in South Africa, and how you can get involved, visit our South Africa webpage.

And to directly make an impact to the lives of Women and Girls in South Africa, become a monthly supporter. Make an impact today.

Article appears on South Africa's official website Understanding the Rate of HIV in Black Women and Girls in Atlanta Standing Up for Women in Palestine - The Struggle for Human Rights, Health, and Justice in Gaza on International Women's Day 5 Black Women on the Frontlines of Reproductive Rights (and What They Say About the Next Phase of Abortion Rights).