Inequality Written Into the Economy

Southern Africa has some of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world. South Africa is regularly cited as having one of the highest femicide rates globally — five women are killed by their intimate partners every day, according to the South African Medical Research Council. In Zimbabwe, surveys have found that more than one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner. In Malawi and Zambia, GBV rates are similarly alarming, with many incidents going unreported due to social stigma, distrust of police, and lack of support services.

Violence is only the most visible symptom of a deeper structural inequality. Women across Southern Africa earn significantly less than men — the gender pay gap in South Africa is approximately 28%, even after controlling for industry and occupation. Women are concentrated in the lowest-paid, most insecure jobs: domestic work, informal trading, piece-rate farm labour. They carry the overwhelming burden of unpaid care work — caring for children, the sick, and the elderly — work that is invisible in national accounts and unprotected by labour law.

Progress on Representation — And Its Limits

Southern Africa has made significant strides in women’s political representation. Rwanda leads the world with over 60% of parliamentary seats held by women. Several SADC countries — including Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa — have among the highest rates of women’s parliamentary representation globally. The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development commits member states to achieving 50% representation of women in political and decision-making positions.

But political representation, while important, does not automatically translate into policy change for ordinary women. Studies by the African Gender Institute and others have documented the gap between women’s numerical representation in parliaments and their influence over the policies that most affect women’s lives. Legislative quotas can produce women in positions of formal power while leaving patriarchal systems fundamentally intact.

Economic empowerment remains far behind political gains. Women’s access to land — the primary productive asset in much of Southern Africa — is constrained by both law and custom in most SADC countries. Women entrepreneurs face discrimination in accessing credit and business support. Women workers in the informal economy are doubly excluded: by gender and by informality.

GBV in the World of Work

The ILO’s Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, adopted in 2019, was a watershed moment — the first international labour standard to explicitly address GBV in workplaces, commuting, and work-related settings. Several SADC countries have since begun the process of ratification and policy alignment.

But workplaces in Southern Africa remain deeply unsafe for many women. Domestic workers — a predominantly female workforce — are particularly exposed, working in private homes where there is little oversight or accountability. Farm workers face harassment and assault from supervisors with near-total impunity. Health workers are routinely subjected to sexual harassment by patients and colleagues. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a sharp increase in domestic violence, as women were locked down with abusive partners — a grim reminder of the intersection between the public world of work and the private world of home.

What Feminist Research and Advocacy Are Achieving

ActionAid, the Solidarity Center, and a coalition of African women’s rights organisations have been at the forefront of advocacy for Convention 190 ratification across the continent. In Malawi, gender justice organisations have successfully pushed for stronger legislation on GBV and for its explicit application in workplace contexts. South Africa’s National Development Plan includes strong gender equality commitments — though progress on implementation has been uneven.

Feminist economists and researchers have made important headway in making unpaid care work visible in policy debates. The African Development Bank’s work on gender and economic growth has produced evidence that significantly expanding access to care services could increase women’s labour force participation and reduce gender inequality in ways that benefit entire economies.

What We Do

• Conduct feminist policy research on women’s economic rights, wages, and labour market participation.
• Evaluate gender mainstreaming in health, labour, and community development programmes.
• Research gender-based violence in the world of work, including in domestic work, agriculture, and health care.
• Assess women’s access to social protection, land rights, and economic empowerment programmes.
• Support the development of gender-responsive policies, strategic plans, and organisational gender audits.
• Investigate the intersection of unpaid care work, informality, and economic inequality.