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Author: Embrace

Urgent action required to address Obstetric Violence in South Africa

This normalised state of violence against women and birthing people seeking healthcare has an enduring, negative impact on maternal health outcomes and early childhood development. The abusive treatment of women and girls in maternity services is a form of gender violence that reflects the broader societal devaluation of women and girls in South Africa and the normalisation of violence against them, particularly marginalised and impoverished women and girls.

Embrace is hiring!

Embrace, the movement for mothers, seeks to employ an advocacy and communications strategist. This is a senior-level, full-time post. The successful candidate will join a small, dynamic team that serves as the engine of a national network-driven movement.

All We Want for Mother’s Day

As mothers, we know better than most that our children are the future, and we appreciate the outpourings of gratitude for our role in shaping that future. But we also want you to know: gratitude alone is not enough – not while pregnant mothers go hungry; not while 1 in 3 mothers suffer from mental disorders during and after pregnancy; not while teenage girls cannot access basic reproductive healthcare services, and not while it is possible for a woman to be beaten while she is labouring.

Down on my knees during COVID-19

Did I mention the merry-go-round of fear in my head? How was I going to make money? What would happen to my child if I got sick? Before experts reassured us that children younger than ten were least likely get infected, there was the gigantic fear of my child getting sick. The more the lockdown was extended, the more I worried about how my child’s development was being affected by not being able to go to crèche. The longer lockdown lasted, a new fear appeared: the fear of losing a roof over our heads. All this responsibility is unbelievably hard for a single mom because you have to figure everything out alone. But I have to also appreciate how day after day, God sent unexpected angels to help (from a distance or electronically). I have experienced a lot of kindness from so called strangers during this challenging time.

#DontLookAwayThisMandelaDay

So, in the run up to #MandelaDay, we are using this platform and our voices as the women, mothers, daughters, sisters of victims and survivors of #genderbasedviolence to call for collective action against such violence. #GBV is a social problem and it will never stop until there are social solutions. So we’re going to be sharing ways in which you can help spot and stop GBV in your own community and resources with which which you can support survivors of GBV.