Jönköping and Stellenbosch, South Africa

Human Rights 2.0

For over a year, representatives from Jönköping municipality and Stellenbosch have met digitally to get to know each other and discuss the municipalities’ various challenges. Workshops have also been carried out in both Stellenbosch and Jönköping with representatives from the municipalities’ various administrations and operations. In Jönköping, it was about specific areas/places where people do not feel safe for various reasons. In Stellenbosch they started from the value “Women and men should have the same power to shape society as they do their own lives”.

It was pointed out that the main challenges for South Africa are the electricity in the country, where power outages are common, which leads to people not feeling safe. Another part that was addressed was typical gender stereotypes, where women are to a greater extent responsible for the unpaid domestic work. Based on this, the common problem formulation for the project was “Unequal, unsafe and inaccessible public environments”.

During a joint workshop, the project’s problem was reformulated to “safety in public environments”. The issue of safety can be related to the Human Rights from the perspective of the right to freedom of equality and freedom of movement as well as the right to social security. The common problem needs to be addressed from an equality perspective, as men’s violence against women is widespread in both countries and dark places are a threat not least to women.

Through a number of activities, the project will increase awareness among the public, politicians and civil servants about how the occurrence of men’s violence against women affects the psychological and physical space for girls and boys/women and men. The project shall also aim to achieve a common understanding of how organizational/municipal initiatives and priorities can contribute to a wider participation of citizens and civil society organizations and thereby protect human rights.