Evidence Based Policy Advocacy to Reduce Sexual Violence in Southern African Prisons

Sonke Gender Justice and Just Detention International–South Africa are excited to announce a new project, Evidence Based Policy Advocacy to Reduce Sexual Violence in Southern African Prisons.

This project is funded by the Evidence for HIV Prevention in Southern Africa program (EHPSA), and enables the partners to strengthen policy advocacy efforts to reduce sexual violence in prisons in South Africa, and to identify promising practices and lessons learned from these efforts. Sonke and JDI-SA will then extend policy advocacy to new intervention sites in southern Africa, as well as disseminate knowledge and practice on this advocacy to HIV prevention and prisoner rights stakeholders across the region. Sexual violence in prisons is a key driver of HIV in prisons, and a grave human rights abuse. This project creates the critical opportunity to consolidate and build on the important gains in policy reform that Sonke and JDI-SA have achieved together in South Africa, and to expand this vital work with new strategic partners in the region. Advocacy fellowships for ex-inmates and investigative journalists, creative media advocacy initiatives, testing of interventions, and critical documentation of “what works” to reduce sexual abuse behind bars are just some of the exciting components of this joint project.