University of the Western Cape
The evolution of feminist politics: the life and times of a rape crisis organisation
Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust (RCCTT) was established in 1976 at a time when South Africa experienced extensive turmoil, and the country was under heavy military rule. This study critically examines the evolution of feminist politics within Rape Crisis (RC) from the 1970s to the present day (RCCTT, 2019). Drawing on personal narratives, organisational dynamics, and different feminist theoretical frameworks, the research explores intersecting power relations, feminist leadership, and the organisation's response to violence against women. It highlights ways in which changing political circumstances- from the 1970s to the present day - have affected and intersected with the work of an organisation, which drove the first systematic and organisational responses to widespread violence against women in the country. This critical study, shaped by the author’s personal locations and standpoint, seeks to raise and explain the political tensions experienced by an organisation that was both bold and proactive in confronting violence, as well as challengingly situated within the country’s changing racial, class, ideological and neoliberal dynamics.
Degree
thesis:*- Grantor dc:publisher.institution
- University of the Western Cape
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2024
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Davids, Juliana