'Research stopped overnight': How US policy shifts affect SA women's healthcare

America’s decision to terminate the South African USAID/Pepfar co-operative agreement stopped research projects overnight and put women at risk, said Dr Devi Rajab on Friday. 

Rajab was speaking at the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Multi-Party Women's Caucus - International Women’s Day (IWD) event. She is the chairperson of the Democracy Development Program (DDP).

Themed “For all Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment”, panel discussions were held on climate justice and gender equality, promoting gender equality in local governance, empowering women through education and employment, and advancing women’s and girls’ rights.

Rajab said that “Trumpian politics of the wild west” affected SA directly and left the country in doldrums. 

“What we are currently experiencing is an anarchy style of leadership controlled by big men with heavy pockets. Little for the poor and weak and most of all the downtrodden like women. We had to stop research literally overnight and told women who have had vaginal insertions to take it out because the research project has come to an end,” she said.  

Rajab said that in April, she was expecting a delegation of young Afghani women who had escaped Taliban rule by fleeing to London.

“They are coming to South Africa to ask for our help over an issue of what they call gender apartheid. We need to see where we are as women in the current geo-political situation. The gap between north and south is getting so big that we may find we cannot catch up,” she said. 

“In America, we find that the Zionist lobby controls all institutions of higher education. Making dissidents into criminals. Facts and morality are bent without compunction, and democratic values are no longer heeded,” she said. 

Rajab stated that SA can claim the moral high ground for the progressive laws, adding that the caucus will deliberate on strategy and plan how they can make a difference in KZN. 

“A society that does not treat its women as full citizens wastes its potential resources. So, it is not only about psychological oppression; it is about wise economic decisions. When you educate a girl, you educate a family. This simple wisdom seems to be largely ignored.” 

Rajab said that people can judge the calibre of a nation by the way it treats its women and cares for its children.

“Look at our schools and hospitals, do we really care? Even with the best Constitution in the world and the legislative overhaul that safeguards women's rights, it cannot eradicate the scourge of violence against females. Sexual harassment is indicative of how society views us. We are viewed firstly in terms of our genitalia. Child abuse in South Africa surpasses any other country in the world.” 

Rajab said they need to deliberate on a different strategy.

“Let us challenge our men to pick up the gauntlet and eradicate the shame their sex now represents. Create circles of harmony among men and women.” 

Chairperson of the Multiparty Women’s Caucus and MPL, Celiwe Qhamkile Madlopha, said we must remove the prevalence of discriminatory attitudes and gender-based stereotypes that perpetuate gender inequality.

Madlopha said that the government and the private sector must demonstrate their commitment to deal with widespread, deeply entrenched views that contribute to an unequal society by introducing a legal framework to promote and enforce gender equality.

Speaker of the KZN Legislature, Nontembeko Boyce, said the IWD serves as an opportunity to reflect on the progress that has been made to accelerate women's agenda in the province. 

Boyce said central to this vision is empowering the next generation, youth, particularly young women, and adolescent girls as catalysts for lasting change. 

She stated that despite considerable progress made in advancing women’s rights since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995, the world is experiencing new and overlapping crises and the erosion of rights. 

Boyce said that KZN is one of the provinces that is dominated by rural areas.

She valued partnerships such as working with the DDP to advance and empower women in various sectors.

“We are not spared from the issues which affect women globally. While strides have been made to fight for and advance women’s rights and access to healthcare, 30 years later, the United States decided to cut funding for reproductive healthcare globally, affecting millions, especially in the African continent. There is little hope of these agreements being rescinded.”  

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za