Negotiating the Transition to Democracy and Reforming the Security Sector: South African Women

Publication Date: August 2004
Author: Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Abstract: As South Africa abandoned its policy of apartheid, the newly democratic state redefined security to encompass issues outside of the military, such as underdevelopment, poverty, and human rights abuse. Women from all walks of life – anti-apartheid activists, African National Congress members and Umkhonto we Sizwe fighters, and women at the grassroots level – contributed to advancing a holistic, comprehensive, and democratized “human security” framework. Other notable achievements include providing gender-based training to all defense ministry personnel, appointing women to senior positions in the Ministry of Defence, and holding an annual gathering called “Women at the Peace Table.” This publication documents and analyzes the ways in which women shaped South Africa’s post-apartheid transitional justice process. (34 pages plus endnotes and appendices) (executive summary available)

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