SocietyChallenges remain 70 years after South Africa’s women challenged apartheid

Seventy years after risking arrest, torture and even death to oppose racist laws, many South African women say their struggle for freedom is not over. They continue to face severe gender-based violence, poverty and inequality. A 2024 study supported by UN Women found that more than one in three South African women has experienced physical or sexual violence during her lifetime. The continuing hardships show that the gains sought by women who resisted apartheid remain incomplete.