Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints

Civic space constitutes the substratum for women to be able to organise, communicate and participate in democratic processes, including claiming their rights, as well as influencing the trajectory of the political and socio- economic structures around them. With the proliferation of the recogniti...

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Main Authors: Torque Mude, Peter Makaye, Tafadzwa Maramura, Gabriella Nguluwe
Other Authors: Department of Governance and Public Management Midlands State University Zimbabwe
Format: research article
Language:English
Published: University of KwaZulu-Natal 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5599
https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2022/v29n2a13
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author Torque Mude
Peter Makaye
Tafadzwa Maramura
Gabriella Nguluwe
author2 Department of Governance and Public Management Midlands State University Zimbabwe
author_facet Department of Governance and Public Management Midlands State University Zimbabwe
Torque Mude
Peter Makaye
Tafadzwa Maramura
Gabriella Nguluwe
author_sort Torque Mude
collection DSpace
description Civic space constitutes the substratum for women to be able to organise, communicate and participate in democratic processes, including claiming their rights, as well as influencing the trajectory of the political and socio- economic structures around them. With the proliferation of the recognition and participation of women in political processes, their attempts to occupy the civic space have also intensified. While the civic space is theoretically open for women’s civic participation, structural violence and cyber-violence have militated against women’s civic space visibility. This has culminated in the shrinking of the civic space for women’s articulation of political and socio-economic issues; especially in the African context. Against this backdrop, the objective of this paper is to examine the constraints women in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe experience in operating in these spaces and the strategies they deploy to deal with these constrictions. Having said this, the paper intends to examine the manner in which physical, cyber and structural violence against Namibian, South African and Zimbabwean women manifests and affects their participation in civic spaces. Moreover, it Women and the Civic Space 245 explores the strategies deployed by women to counter the various forms of violence and other stumbling blocks inherent in the civic space. Data for this paper were generated from both primary and secondary sources and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.
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institution My University
language English
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publisher University of KwaZulu-Natal
record_format dspace
spelling ir-11408-55992023-05-04T11:47:50Z Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints Torque Mude Peter Makaye Tafadzwa Maramura Gabriella Nguluwe Department of Governance and Public Management Midlands State University Zimbabwe Department of Development Studies Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth, South Africa University of Free State Bloemfontein South Africa Department of Security and Strategic Studies School of Military Science University of Namibia women civic space Namibia South Africa Zimbabwe Civic space constitutes the substratum for women to be able to organise, communicate and participate in democratic processes, including claiming their rights, as well as influencing the trajectory of the political and socio- economic structures around them. With the proliferation of the recognition and participation of women in political processes, their attempts to occupy the civic space have also intensified. While the civic space is theoretically open for women’s civic participation, structural violence and cyber-violence have militated against women’s civic space visibility. This has culminated in the shrinking of the civic space for women’s articulation of political and socio-economic issues; especially in the African context. Against this backdrop, the objective of this paper is to examine the constraints women in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe experience in operating in these spaces and the strategies they deploy to deal with these constrictions. Having said this, the paper intends to examine the manner in which physical, cyber and structural violence against Namibian, South African and Zimbabwean women manifests and affects their participation in civic spaces. Moreover, it Women and the Civic Space 245 explores the strategies deployed by women to counter the various forms of violence and other stumbling blocks inherent in the civic space. Data for this paper were generated from both primary and secondary sources and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. 29 2 244 266 2023-05-04T11:44:24Z 2023-05-04T11:44:24Z 2022-12-01 research article https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5599 https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2022/v29n2a13 en Alternation 2519-5476 open University of KwaZulu-Natal
spellingShingle women
civic space
Namibia
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Torque Mude
Peter Makaye
Tafadzwa Maramura
Gabriella Nguluwe
Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints
title Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints
title_full Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints
title_fullStr Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints
title_full_unstemmed Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints
title_short Women and the Civic Space in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Constraints and Counter-constraints
title_sort women and the civic space in namibia, south africa and zimbabwe: constraints and counter-constraints
topic women
civic space
Namibia
South Africa
Zimbabwe
url https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5599
https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2022/v29n2a13
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