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The HERStory Series: Safe Spaces for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) as part of combination HIV prevention programmes in South Africa: how accessible, feasible and acceptable are they?

Summary

  • Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) often experience services provided in health facilities as unfriendly and unresponsive to their needs, and this is especially the case for HIV sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care, where they have substantial unmet needs.
  • Hundreds of Safe Spaces have been set up in sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa to provide HIV, SRH and social protection services to AGYW, especially those who are more vulnerable, and to overcome the barriers that limit access to HIV and SRH care.
  • Based on a survey among AGYW

The HERStory series: COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women

Summary

  • Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa already faced a range of socio-economic, structural and environmental mental health stressors.
  • COVID-19 has increased household financial strain and food insecurity, which have in turn contributed to increased depression, anxiety and mental health issues.
  • Poorer communities in South Africa have borne the brunt of the burden of lockdowns, with restrictions disproportionately affecting those families and individuals already living in poverty, increasing unemploy

The HERStory Series: Educational equity and transformation in a digital age: Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

  • The vast majority of school-age children in South Africa have experienced severe interruptions in their education due to multiple deprivations including food and income insecurity, challenging home environments, and lack of access to appropriate technology and internet connection.
  • The closure of schools and tertiary institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable and marginalised children, adolescents and young people, worsening existing disparities and educational inequity within the South African education sy

The HERStory Series: Understanding why South African Adolescent Girls and Young Women engage in Transactional Sex and Relationships

The Context

  • Motivations for engaging in transactional sex and transactional relationships (TSR) are complex and diverse, ranging from economic deprivation, hunger and poverty, to desires for social approval, prestige, glamour, and luxury.
  • Socio-cultural norms normalise transactional sex and transactional relationships amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa, and practices of using sex as a currency for exchange.
  • Our study included data from a range of urban, semi–urban, and rural communities across six provinces of South Africa, a

The HERStory Series: Addressing barriers to open sexuality communication between South African adolescent girls and young women and their mothers to facilitate safe sexual and reproductive decision-making

Summary

  • Open and effective parent–adolescent communication around sexuality and sexual and reproductive health enables informed sexual and reproductive health (SRH) decision-making amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW).
  • However, several barriers to sexuality communication between South African AGYW and their parents exist, including an inability or unwillingness to discuss sex, a generation gap, proscriptive socio-cultural guidelines, and mothers’ discomfort, lack of knowledge and self-efficacy, and fear of encouraging promiscuity.
  • As a consequ

Children, Social Assistance and Food Security Research Report

Introduction

This study aims to make sense of the relationship between social assistance and child food practices in South Africa.

The Child Support Grant (CSG) in South Africa, which is the smallest of all the grants, is currently R460 per month after being increased from R450 in April 2021. This grant needs to cover many basic needs for a child – not least nutrition. However, the reality is that the grant is primarily used to buy food; food that is insufficient in quantity and quality to contribute to adequate nutrition.

Mental Health Investment Case for South Africa

This Mental Health Investment Case for South Africa, commissioned by the National Department of Health in November 2019, represents the result of three years of sustained dialogue and collaboration with the National Department of Health, involving key Provincial partners, clinicians, financing experts, patient rights and community advocacy groups and prominent academics, all of whom are committed to upholding the rights of persons living with Mental, Neurological and Substance use Disorders in South Africa.

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