The week of 14 March to 21 March 2016 is Anti-Racism Week and 21 March 2016 is Human Rights Day in South Africa. This is the day in 1960, on which the police shot 69 people while they were peacefully protesting against the pass laws in Sharpeville, Johannesburg.

The legacy of the racist and skewed apartheid system has to be continually taken on. Transformation needs to be pursued with determination and zeal. Race is one of the divides that was used to disunite South Africa in the past and still continues to rear its ugly head every once in a while in many areas of life, including University life.

There are a number of other divides that have been used to polarise South African society. Among these are sexism and heterosexism. These two isms have come to affect women, homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and intersex persons through discriminating against them, especially socially. This discrimination has manifested itself in violence and other forms of inhumane treatment of persons that are different from the majority in opinion, power or numbers.

Together all of us black and white, gay and straight, male and female and everything in between must work together towards a democratic and equal South Africa.

What is racism?

Racism is the belief that all members of a particular race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race that distinguish it as superior to another race.

What is ‘race’?

Some definitions allude to race as a group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of genetic and physical traits such as skin color shared by the group. It is from these genetic and physical differences that a particular group derives its supposed superior abilities, characteristics, and qualities over another. However, race is a social construct as opposed to a genetic or physical division in trait from other groups of people.  The Free Dictionary also defines race as a group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution.

Racism can therefore be practiced between socially grouped and constructed people without there being any substantive genetic or physical differences between them. Racism is therefore a concern for all despite colour differences or any other physical traits.

What is sexism?

Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on sex, which manifests itself in behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on the sex of a person. Women and girls tend to be at the receiving end of sexist behavior, but men and boys also encounter negative sexist attitudes and conduct from both women and girls and fellow men and boys respectively.

What is heterosexism?

Heterosexism isdiscrimination or prejudice against homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians, transgender and intersex persons based on the assumption that heterosexuality is the ‘normal’ sexual orientation and gender description of behaviour and expression.  It stems from the patriarchal set up of society where masculinities are emphasised and males are seen as more important than and given a greater say over females. Men and women who do not adhere to this sexual and gender hierarchy and role categorisation are often shunned.

Know the facts:

Did you know that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was the first in the world to include sexual orientation as a ground for non-discrimination? Race and sex are also included. The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against any South African citizen or anyone living in South Africa based on 16 possible grounds. No person may also discriminate unfairly, directly or indirectly, against anyone based on these 16 grounds. Discrimination on these or any other grounds is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair. Fair discrimination may, for example, arise in the case of affirmative action to balance the status of a previously marginalised group vis-à-vis others, or to rotate opportunities (section 9 of the Constitution).

According to the Constitution:

• ‘Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.’
• ‘Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination may be taken.’

Equality courts are courts that have been created to be as accessible as possible to the ordinary person. Formal processes have been replaced by more informal procedures, and one is not required to be represented by a qualified lawyer.

Racism, sexism and heterosexism can lead to hate crimes. Hate crimes against homosexuals, lesbians, intersex and transgender persons is common in South Africa. Lesbians bear the brunt of this hate by suffering from the phenomenon of ‘corrective rape’ which is intended to ‘cure them of lesbianism’. A research study carried out by gay rights group Triangle in 2008 revealed that 86% of black lesbians in the Western Cape lived in fear of sexual assault.

Take it on!

What can you and I do to stop racism and heterosexism?

• You can take a case directly to any equality court in South Africa once you have a strong, demonstrable reason to believe that unfair discrimination has taken place on the basis of race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, colour, culture or any other grounds mentioned in the Constitution. This could be in service delivery, job opportunity, or in the form of violence targeted at someone because they are ‘different’.
  To access the procedures for approaching the equality court near you, please use this link http://www.justice.gov.za/EQCact/eqc_step-guide.html
• You can lay a complaint at the police station near you as well as collect and keep evidence of acts of discrimination, including witness statements.
• Contribute ideas to the National Action Plan to combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (2016-2021) which is being drafted by the Department of Justice. A process of public consultation is underway and the closing date for comments/submissions is 30 June 2016. For more information on how to submit an idea, please visit http://www.justice.gov.za/docs/other-docs/nap.html

Contact us:
The Coordinator: LGBTI Rights in Africa Project
Room 2-3.2
Centre for Human Rights
Faculty of Law
University of Pretoria main campus
Hatfield
Pretoria 0002
Republic of South Africa
Tel: +27 (012) 420 4306
Email: geoffreyogwaro@gmail.com