What's role South African women played against the violation of human rights from the 1950s to 1960s ?
Women in South Africa, since the turn of the century, have emerged as primary catalysts for protests against, and as challengers of, the apartheid regime. With all the disabilities and devastating effects of apartheid on the status of women that have already been described, women have never lost sight of the fact that meaningful change for them cannot come through reform but only through the total destruction of the apartheid system. Thus the common exploitation and oppression of men and women on the basis of colour has led to a combined fight against the system instead of a battle of women against men for "women’s rights."
While women desire their personal liberation, they see that as part of the total liberation movement. Although there is no doubt that the overt leadership has been dominated by men, the seemingly unacknowledged and informal segment of society controlled by women has been the key to many of the most significant mass movements in modern South African history. It is only in the very recent past that the crucial role played by women in raising basic issues, organising and involving the masses has become more widely recognised.
Women in the trade unions
Although women have been involved to some degree in all kinds of organisations in South Africa, from church groups to liberation movements, in many ways it was the trade union movements that became the spawning ground for women organisers and in which women first rose to positions of importance in South Africa. Trade union actions such as strikes also served to politicise some women.
The organising of women began in the 1920s, principally in the laundry, clothing, mattress, furniture and baking industries. While several black national federations were formed and dissolved, the one that endured in spite of the new labour legislation of the 1920s was the Non-European Trade Union Federation, formed in 1928.
During the 1930s, women trade unionists were in the leadership of the opposition towards growing Afrikaner nationalism and apartheid in the unions. Their position was that racial divisions should not split a union. They sought free compulsory education for all races, an end to job reservations by race and training for all races. Women were being both organised and trained to organise and lead.
As the economy developed in the 1930s and 1940s, with the growth of capital accumulation and an increased demand for labour, women rapidly became urbanised to fill this need. These demographic changes, coupled with the crippling labour legislation that would follow the assumption of power by the National Party in 1948, made the 1940s the crest of the period in which women organised other women and black industrial workers.
Efforts to organise Africans were crippled by the National Party`s labour legislation—the Industrial Legislation Commission (1950) enforced apartheid in the trade unions; under the Suppression of Communism Act, 56 trade union activists were banned by 1955; the Industrial Legislation Bill (1956) made job reservations the law. But the women still led strikes, even though strikes by Africans were then illegal.
Historically, the trade union movement helped to inspire women in many other areas, but the main impact was that the unions provided a training ground for women political leaders. Female factory workers learned new methods of organising and were exposed to the principles of non-racial worker solidarity.
Since the founding of the African National Congress (ANC) Bantu Women’s League in 1913, women have been active in other organisations, especially those based in urban areas. Women played an active role in the Campaign of Defiance Against Unjust Laws during which, in 1952, many were arrested. They also helped to organise the Congress of Democrats, a white organisation in alliance with the ANC and the Coloured People`s Congress. However, the lack of a broad-based women’s organisation made the participation of women sporadic. In addition, almost all activity was urban-based, with little or no contact with women in the reserves.
The Federation of South African Women
With these organisational problems magnified by the domination of the National Party and its rapid expansion of apartheid legislation, the time was ripe for the formation of the Federation of South African Women (FSAW) in 1954. Its members, said to represent some 230,000 women, were drawn largely from the Congress Alliance, but especially from the ANC’s Women’s League. FSAW had two primary aims: to work for majority rule and end the policy of apartheid; and to build a multiracial women’s organisation that would also work for the rights of, and freedoms for, women.
Answers
Answer:
Women played an active role in the Campaign of Defiance Against Unjust Laws during which, in 1952, many were arrested. They also helped to organise the Congress of Democrats, a white organisation in alliance with the ANC and the Coloured People`s Congress.
Women played a crucial role, urging the greater democratic movement to address women’s issues and strengthening the leadership of women.
Explanation: Women of all races were organized by the newly created Federation of South African Women to fight for equality. The federation began in a small town but quickly grew across the country, organizing on the streets and within labour unions. Many smaller demonstrations resulted from these grassroots initiatives, culminating in the women's march on Pretoria, South Africa's capital, in 1956.
Consequently, as a result the fight against apartheid was started by Nelson Mandela, the world's most famous leader, who later became a symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. In the name of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, people protested this act (AAM). The state and the economy were monopolized by white South Africans. In the end, a concrete grassroots civil resistance movement with international support and sanctions forced the white administration to talk, demoralized by the lack of outcomes from their nonviolent struggle and armed insurrection.
Apartheid policies included:
I. Strict Segregation: Blacks were banned from reside in white regions. They could only work in white areas if they had been given permission to do so.
II. Prohibition on the creation of associations and protests: Blacks were prohibited from forming associations or protesting against the severe discrimination they were subjected to.
III. Non-whites do not have voting rights: Apartheid segregated people and categorized them according to their skin color. Non-whites were denied the right to vote.
Therefore, After a lengthy struggle against apartheid, South Africa gained independence in 1994, and the new South African Constitution abolished apartheid and granted equal rights to all people regardless of race or color. Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa.