South African farm workers trade union and gender violence

If men want to join Sikhula Sonke, a women-led trade union for South African farm workers, they must sign a declaration saying that they will refrain from violence against women. Union members have also vowed to intervene within their communities whenever violence against women occurs.
Wendy Pekeur, Secretary-General of Sikhula Sonke, explains that these and other innovative strategies, which do not focus squarely on labour issues, but address major social needs of the members, are part of the success of the small but growing union. For many of Sikhula Sonke’s 4 000 members, a large part of them women seasonal workers or unemployed women, violence is often a part of life.

“Women are very dependent on men in the farmlands. Most women are employed as seasonal workers, and depend on substituting for male farm workers, whereas most men have a full-year employment. Women therefore often only access housing through a man. This is one reason why women tend to stay on in violent situations, because otherwise they will lose their housing.”

While Sikhula Sonke is working to address the root causes of the problem by negotiating for women farm workers to have equal working conditions with men, and challenging the patriarchal systems on the farms, they also use direct action.

One method is to target presumptive members of the union: men who want to join Sikhula Sonke need to agree that the union’s leadership should be primarily women, and they also must sign a declaration saying that they denounce domestic violence, and wear the white ribbon in membership meetings.

“We can hold the men accountable if they do perpetuate violence. So far, two men have lost their membership for breaching the declaration by using violence against women,” Wendy Pekeur explains.

The lack of effective law enforcement mechanisms is another major challenge for women members, which Sikhula Sonke is trying to address through collective action.
“When you look at crime in rural South Africa, most of it is perpetrated against black women, and the most common crime is violence against women, and one of the most common types of crime is violence against women. But if you look at the task force which the police set up in these areas, it is around stock theft”, says Wendy Pekeur.

This lack of priority given to violence against women, coupled with the inaccessibility of the farms, result in police response to violence against women in farms being rare. In the last general meeting of Sikhula Sonke, members therefore passed a resolution saying that as communities, they will take joint responsibility and act collectively when violence against women occurs.

It is really powerful to see how people can support women. The community then takes action by complaining to the farmer. As a result – the man can be evicted. If the housing contract is in the name of the man, we also start a negotiation process to see if we can have the contract transferred into the woman’s name instead.”

A resolution from the last general meeting to stop shebeens - illegal drinking spots - on the farms was another important aspect in reducing violence against, and improving the lives of women, Wendy Pekeur explains. Alcohol abuse is rampant on farms, and the Western Cape province, where Sikhula Sonke is based, has the highest rate of foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in the world.

Other work which the union does to strengthen women’s economic position also intertwines with the prevention of violence work – such as work on land rights, promotion of food gardens, and assisting women in obtaining exemption from paying school fees for their children if they do not have the means.

“We operate on the basis of trying to make the personal political. But it is not easy, and we do not have all the answers. It can be very challenging, for example when a woman does not want to lay charges or a man looses his income through the process. We do however try to build relationships with other organisations working on violence against women, and with the role of men, who can support us in this”, she says.

* Asa Ericksson works for the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).

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