Arnetia Brown got her first period when she was 13 and pain has been a regular part of her life since. “With my very first cycle my father found me passed out on the floor. I actually fainted because I…
Written by Dave Chambers for Jive Media Africa, research communications partner to GIFT A South African innovation designed to screen for inflammation associated with HIV infections and improve women’s sexual and reproductive health has been manufactured and has entered its…
“Most of the times when I, or a friend, went to a clinic the healthcare workers didn’t want to help us because of the way we smelled or how we looked,” Chantel Sampson recalls. In 2018, the 42-year-old lived on…
“This baby is getting hungry and not getting enough food! She’s always crying because you’re not giving her food so that she can grow well!” These words rang in the ears of first-time mom Thandi Mhlanga as she prepared soft…
Gauteng now has a new 3D mammography machine which is more accurate in detecting breast cancer. The R3.8 million device is housed in Pink Drive’s new mobile truck. Founder and CEO of the organisation, Noelene Kotschan, says that this machine…
Victoria Satchwell was desperate when she called the fifth pharmacist asking them to dispense abortion pills for an almost 10-week pregnant client. The woman is a 19-year-old rape victim living in Vredefort, a small farming town in the Free State.…
When Phumzile Mayiza, 33, started her menstrual cycle at 14, she was bewildered. Growing up in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal in kwaHlabisa, she was not exposed to information about what was happening to her body. “I felt very ashamed when my…
By Hannah Zhihan Jiang Molly Grieves, 47, has struggled to find work for years, but a month ago she was hired as an intern cleaner at the Helen Joseph Hospital through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The EPWP is…
Black women living with HIV continue to experience forced sterilisation at South African public health institutions, the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Conference heard at Diep in Die Berg, in Pretoria, on Wednesday Organised by the Department of Social Development, the…
South African reproductive health experts say that it is concerning that young girls and women continue to carry the sole responsibility of ensuring contraceptive use. In South Africa, contraceptives are legally available to anyone over 12. But Dr Kim Jonas,…
Women’s participation in the economy took centre stage at the launch of this year’s 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children, which kicked off at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg earlier this afternoon. Led…
Women face multiple challenges when it comes to receiving contraceptive advice and access. Addressing this, helps to empower women and contributes to shaping a more equitable and safe South Africa, writes Dr Nomacete Tshume, a clinician at Kena Health.…
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared gender-based violence and femicide as South Africa’s first pandemic and said society was at war with women and children. The President spoke during the second day of the 2nd Presidential Summit on GBVF at Gallagher Estate…
Severe period pain is nothing new for 31-year-old Boitumelo Molete. But her pain wasn’t normal and in 2016, she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. “I have always struggled with period pain and the duration of my period. I used to…
Most of the world’s domestic workers – (76%) – are women. They mainly do housework like cleaning, washing clothes, cooking and childcare, usually in private households. Domestic workers often have low incomes and are excluded from basic labour rights and…
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