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The Politics of Women's Health in South Africa

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There are several interrelated crises in women’s
health in contemporary South Africa.
Since the 1990s, HIV/AIDS has been considered
foremost among these and it has posed
a demographic, health, social and cultural
catastrophe for South African women. HIV
has become the leading cause of maternal
mortality in South Africa, according to the
government’s own statistics (Ramogale et al,
2007). Women’s social and health statuses
are also being blighted by the high rates of
intimate partner violence and sexual assault
in the country. A recent global perception
poll of the ‘best and worst’ group of 20
countries for women canvassed the views
of 370 gender experts from five continents
(Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2012b).
South Africa was ranked 16th out of the
group of 20 countries, right above Indonesia,
Saudi Arabia and India, because it has
‘‘Some of the highest rates of sexual and
gender-based violence in the world, a blight
on a country where women are well represented
in politics’’ (Thomson Reuter Foundation,
2012b). This concern has been
echoed by Interpol which recently dubbed
South Africa ‘the world’s rape capital’,
where a woman is sexually assaulted every
17 seconds (SABC, ‘South Africa world’s
rape capital: Interpol’, 19 May 2012).

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Availability

AWDF.0399.C1

AWDF.0399

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Series Title

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Call Number

AWDF.0399

Publisher

South AFrica : Unisa Press., 2012

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

1013-0950

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