HeForShe – Our Church Stands With Women

The Justice and Peace Commission (J&P) of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has partnered with UN Women through its HeForShe campaign and is working with J&P activists from various dioceses to take a stand against women abuse.

The HeForShe gender-equality programme, which was launched at the UN in September 2014 by the executive director of UN Women, former South African Deputy-President Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, aims to engage both men and boys in removing the social and cultural barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving their potential.

J&P is working with six Catholic women — three from Pretoria and three from Mpumalanga — who have decided to take action against the rape problem in their communities.

6 Catholic Women at Work

“The women accompany rape survivors from the moment of reporting the case at the police station to the conclusion of the case in court. They have received the training necessary to do the accompaniment, and they have also assigned a social worker who mentors and coordinates their work,” said Fr Stan Muyebe OP, director of J&P.

Currently, the paralegals are accompanying 40 women who are rape survivors and are in various stages of the court process.

They operate in partnership with police stations: Rietgat and Soshanguve police stations in Pretoria, as well as Masoyi and Matsulu police stations in Mpumalanga.

The Matsulu police station, in appreciation of the work by the paralegals, has created a furnished office for them to use. In their work, the paralegals also influence a change in the way the justice system handles rape cases.

They’re Making a Difference

Fr Muyebe said that before their intervention, there was a lot of police and perpetrator harassment during bail applications, and long turnover periods. As a result of the intervention, these have been addressed in the four police stations and magistrates’ courts.

“Protection orders are now being enforced against perpetrators who are out on bail and are fast-tracked. Most are now concluded within eight months. Rape cases have had very low conviction rates, but this is also changing. Last year, eight cases were concluded in the project’s field of activity, resulting in convictions,” he said.

To ensure conviction, they monitor the collection of forensic evidence and prepare to be quality witnesses in court.

Loss of police cooperation is an ongoing problem, sometimes as a result of corruption. In 2017, the J&P group handled ten cases of missing police dockets (six in Pretoria and four in Mpumalanga).  In one case, they received threats when they exposed the corruption and the missing of a police docket.

Social pressures add to the problem

“In some areas in Mpumalanga, there is pressure on rape survivors not to report their cases to the police. Sometimes, traditional leaders put pressure on the women to have cases dealt with in the family and in the traditional courts where such cases are subjected to mediation as an alternative to litigation. This problem has not yet been resolved,” Fr Muyebe explained.

J&P has started an informal discussion with the chief magistrate of Mpumalanga to explore the possibility of entering into a memorandum of understanding with traditional leaders. The memorandum would place a moral obligation on traditional leaders to refer all rape cases to the police and the courts.

Other Regions

In other regions of South Africa, taverns have taken up the fight to counteract violence against women.

In Klerksdorp, J&P activists and 68 tavern owners have decided to break their silence against the rape problem in their communities as part of the HeForShe campaign, as The Southern Cross has previously reported.

Activities are organised that seek to prevent rape incidence in the community, including community policing forum and neighbourhood watch.

The model of taverns will soon be implemented in Kroonstad and Port Elizabeth.

“Tavern owners and J&P activists seek to influence a change of patriarchal attitudes using community dialogues,” Fr Muyebe said.

There are currently 54 stories of change that indicate a change in attitude, and these will soon be published in a booklet as a tool to inspire other men to consider a change of attitude and behaviour, he added.

Rape Myths

A survey to measure the extent to which the HeForShe campaign’s intervention has changing the patriarchal attitudes among the men in the community found that it has had a significant effect on topics relating to rape myths, such as “He didn’t mean to”, “It was not really rape”, and “She lied”.

Conversely, areas that are in most need of an adjustment by the programme were the rape myths that “If a girl initiates kissing or hooking up, she should not be surprised if a guy assumes she wants to have sex”, “If both people are drunk, it can’t be rape”, and “If a girl doesn’t physically fight back, you can’t really say it was rape”.

Solidarity marches when there is an incident of rape in the community

In Klerksdorp, J&P activists organise solidarity marches when the magistrate courts in their areas have a court appearance on rape.

In Witbank, Fr Linda Zwane has started a forum of pastors responding to the social justice issues in their communities, including violence against women.

n For more information on the HeForShe campaign, or assistance in organising the campaign, contact Robert Mafinyori at

In other regions of South Africa, taverns have taken up the fight to counteract violence against women.

In Klerksdorp, J&P activists and 68 tavern owners have decided to break their silence against the rape problem in their communities as part of the HeForShe campaign, as The Southern Cross has previously reported.

Activities are organised that seek to prevent rape incidence in the community, including a community policing forum and neighbourhood watch.

Kroonstad and Port Elizabeth

The model of taverns will soon be implemented in Kroonstad and Port Elizabeth.

“Tavern owners and J&P activists seek to influence a change of patriarchal attitudes using community dialogues,” Fr Muyebe said.

There are currently 54 stories of change that indicate a shift in attitude, and these will soon be published in a booklet as a tool to inspire other men to consider a change of attitude and behaviour, he added.

A survey to measure the extent to which the HeForShe campaign’s intervention has changing patriarchal attitudes among the men in the community found that it has had a significant effect on topics relating to rape myths, such as “He didn’t mean to”, “It was not really rape”, and “She lied”.

Conversely, areas that are in most need of an adjustment by the programme were the rape myths that “If a girl initiates kissing or hooking up, she should not be surprised if a guy assumes she wants to have sex”, “If both people are drunk, it can’t be rape”, and “If a girl doesn’t physically fight back, you can’t really say it was rape”.

In Klerksdorp, J&P activists organise solidarity marches when the magistrate’s courts in their areas have a court appearance on rape.

In Witbank, Fr Linda Zwane has started a forum of pastors responding to the social justice issues in their communities, including violence against women.

For more information on the HeForShe campaign, or assistance in organising the campaign, contact Robert Mafinyori at