South Africans recognize Women’s Day this month, an opportunity to both commemorate the contributions made by women during apartheid and to highlight the importance of women’s rights. Fifty-four years ago, on August 9, 1956, over 20,000 South African women marched on their country’s Parliament to protest the oppressive “pass books laws” of apartheid. One of the most symbolic acts of apartheid’s racial oppression, the pass laws stipulated that all black South Africans over the age of 16 were required to carry a pass book, a sort of internal passport that documented permission to cross through, reside, or work in certain areas of the country. Arrest, eviction from certain areas of the country, and imprisonment were standard consequences for any individual found to not be in possession of the pass book, or even to have a pass book with insufficient documentation. South African women, in their fight against these laws, professed their courage and empowered women everywhere as they shouted outside the Prime Minister’s office, “When you touch the women, you strike a rock!”
South African women have made great strides over these past fifty-four years. Over a third of senior management positions in government and state entities are held by women, and South Africa recently ranked 42nd out of 113 countries in The Economist magazine’s index of women’s economic opportunity, the second highest ranking of any African country¹. Nevertheless, challenges remain. Where the pass books have been abolished, poverty, violence, and sexual exploitation have stepped in. As in most developing countries, South African women are more affected by poverty than men, as they bear the brunt of providing for their families, experience lower wages, and face discrimination that limits employment opportunities. South Africa is also well known to have the highest incidence of rape in the world, to say nothing of the high rates of crime that plague the entire country. Finally, in nearly every age bracket South African women have a higher prevalence of HIV than men – in some age brackets, four to six times higher.
Still, there is hope. Education is fundamental in addressing the poverty, violence, and sexual mistreatment that South African women face. Public and private sectors alike agree that education empowers women, promotes gender equality, and is an essential element in eradicating poverty. Education of women is consistently associated with improved maternal health and a woman’s ability to freely move about her community and country. A review conducted by the International Center for Research on Women² shows that these positive outcomes increase with higher levels of education, such that secondary and tertiary education have the greatest payoff in women’s health, societal position, economic opportunities, and political participation. Thus, while primary education is critical for developing skills and the foundation for continued learning, it is higher levels of education that ultimately leads to a healthy democracy and civil society.
So perhaps the best way to commemorate Women’s Day is to not only remember those who fought before us, but to continue their fight in protecting those who come after us. Education is our most powerful weapon in fighting the pass books of today.
¹Women’s Economic Opportunity: A New Global Index and Ranking. Economist Intelligence Unit, 2010. Retrieved 02 August 2010.
²Malhotra, A; Pande, R; & Grown, C. Impact of Investments in Female Education on Gender Equality. International Center for Research on Women, 2003. Retrieved 02 August 2010.
