Voices for positive change: South African women tell their stories

 
A group of CWEL+ program participants celebrate their graduation.
ALLEN JEFTHAS/SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
2023 graduates of the CWEL+ gender-transformative economic empowerment program for caregivers of children and adolescents living with HIV celebrate their accomplishment.

How can women in vulnerable circumstances move beyond hopelessness, extreme poverty, and the health and livelihood challenges of a global pandemic? What are the best research approaches to make their experiences count in post-pandemic recovery efforts and future preparedness?

Ask them.

Two research projects in the provinces of Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, are using experiential methodologies to reveal women’s stories, ideas and solutions to their post-pandemic recovery.

The projects are part of Women RISE, an initiative jointly funded by IDRC, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Women RISE supports gender-transformative and action-oriented research into how women’s health and their work (paid or unpaid) intersect in the context of preparedness, response and recovery from COVID-19. By taking two different approaches — one ethnographic and the other a workshop series combined with trial cash transfers —, these two projects aimed to understand the multidimensionality of the lives and circumstances of economically disadvantaged women and investigated different ways to amplify their voices using inclusive approaches.

Deep poverty is a reality for many South African women

South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of income inequality and was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths on the African continent. Before the pandemic, an estimated 2.8 million people were living below the household poverty threshold, and unemployment was at 30%. To mitigate the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts, especially for vulnerable households, the South African government implemented a package of emergency social protection reforms in 2020. This included the introduction of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress cash transfer grant for unemployed adults under age 60 and without income. The South African government has plans to extend the grant beyond March 2025 and continue it as a form of basic income for unemployed South Africans.

Amplifying women’s voices to find solutions 

The first project, titled Ukuvula Isango, or “opening the gate,” used an ethnographic approach to collect the oral life histories of 300 women in rural Eastern Cape, many of whom experienced exclusion and isolation during COVID-19 restrictions. The region has a population of over 7 million and has been classified as one of the poorest in South Africa. It also saw one of the highest pandemic death tolls at 750 deaths per 100,000 people. In 2022, the region was reported to be in a disaster-level hunger crisis.  

Through a partnership among the Human Sciences Research Council, Canada’s McGill University, Walter Sisulu University in South Africa and the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council, researchers are documenting and addressing the challenges women face in rural settings. The project covered eight rural communities, asking women about the impact of the pandemic on their lives, with a focus on how they saw themselves adapting and recovering. The objective was to identify trends and triggers affecting their livelihoods and health using a research methodology that emphasizes their knowledge and perspectives to inform science.  

Ultimately, researchers wanted to identify women-focused solutions to public health and livelihood challenges to increase the resilience of communities to future external shocks. 

The women speak: Early results in rural Eastern Cape

Common themes have emerged from the oral histories collected to date. Researchers report that the pandemic disproportionately affected women, many of whom lost their jobs. Workplaces, health centres and other services closed, leaving women disconnected from their social networks. Adult children and spouses moved home, causing even greater strain and leading to increases in domestic violence. Greater numbers of youth pregnancies added to women’s already difficult care burden.

Many women reported that debt closed in. High inflation further compounded the problem, leaving women’s households in a continuous cycle of economic deficit. They continue to struggle with food insecurity and an almost universal dependence on social grants for survival. Women reported a new normal: living with stress, mental illness, isolation and substance use. 

Through the collected stories and experiences of rural Eastern Cape women, the project team designed and delivered a series of economic empowerment workshops to offer strategies to support them. The themes included gender-based violence, homestead and communal farming, mental wellness, rural unpaid women’s labour, sexual and reproductive health, and more.

The project seeks to bring government and communities closer together to co-produce new solutions, bridging the gap between current policy and the needs of rural women and their families to rebuild their lives and opportunities.

Supporting caregivers with workshops and cash transfers

The second Women RISE project, Caregiver Wellbeing PLuS (CWEL+), is led by researchers from the South African Medical Research Council, Canada’s Simon Fraser University and other partner groups. Based in KwaZulu-Natal, the research team set up two test groups of caregivers of children and adolescents living with HIV: one receiving cash transfers only and the second receiving transfers and empowerment training as part of a COVID-19 basic income package.

Studies have found that women involved in the unpaid caregiving of children have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The caregivers — primarily mothers and family members — provide shelter and food, along with emotional support, but their ability to provide quality care during the COVID-19 pandemic was hampered by poverty, health challenges, stigma, limited access to social services and the fact that many live with HIV.

The premise of the CWEL+ project is that simple cash transfers may not on their own improve the caregivers’ circumstances; rather, providing opportunities to develop caregivers’ gender and economic skills is essential for a successful intervention. 

The women speak: Early results from KwaZulu-Natal

As part of the project, the research team delivered a 10-session series of workshops over six weeks on topics such as harmful gender norms, intimate partner violence, positive coping strategies, relationship development, budgeting and starting a small business. The topics were designed in response to the issues raised by caregivers in the collection of oral histories.

The research team invited caregivers to co-create the workshop materials, both to integrate their experiences and to empower themselves and others within their community. Many caregiver participants praised the value of the workshop topics, materials and inclusive approach. “[Through the workshop lessons], you become more resilient and confident to face any challenges and stresses of your daily life,” said one participant. “You can see that you are not alone; there are other women out there who experience the same challenges as you.”

“I was able to educate through the My Stigma video that was used in the CWEL+ program,” reported one caregiver who was also an advisory board member. “In the video, I discuss how to take care of children living with HIV and how they can look after themselves because living with HIV does not mean it is the end of the world.”

Hope for the future

While both projects listen to and record women’s stories, they go beyond documentation to empower participants. The positive reception to the workshops under both projects shows that with the right methodologies and intentional design, women’s stories of their struggles and their path to resilience can provide valuable insights that shape solutions and influence policymaking.

As South Africa celebrates 30 years since the fall of apartheid in 1994, challenges remain. Projects that use empowering methodologies and give voice to society’s most vulnerable people show promise for the future. By collecting stories and life experiences, providing capacity training and testing cash transfers, the project teams are connecting policy and practice in meaningful ways.

Research highlights

  • Economic stimulus programs should listen to women’s voices in terms of how to mitigate poverty and hunger by boosting local food production.   

  • Cash transfers alone are not as effective at lifting people out of poverty as a blended approach using a combination of transfers and life skills empowerment approaches. 

  • Women’s stories and experiences provide critical insights into their circumstances, offering knowledge that can help policymakers shape support programs. 

  • People with lived experience are well placed to co-create training programs and materials to support others dealing with similar challenges. 

  • When women and others living in extreme poverty tell their stories and co-produce solutions, they become empowered to influence change.