Negotiating Girl-led Advocacy

Addressing Early and Forced Marriage in South Africa

in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Sadiyya Haffejee School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa sadiyyah@uj.ac.za

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9513-6861
,
Astrid Treffry-Goatley School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa treffrey-goatley@ukzn.ac.za

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2489-9255
,
Lisa Wiebesiek Centre for Visual methodologies for Social Change, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa wiebesiekl@ukzn.ac.za

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4928-2080
, and
Nkonzo Mkhize School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa mkhizen2@ukzn.ac.za

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2020.130204
Keywords:
collaboration; gender-based violence; intergenerational; rural; Social Ills Fighters (SIFs); traditional authority
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Abstract

Increasingly, researchers and policymakers recognize the ability of girls to effect social change in their daily lives. Scholars working across diverse settings also acknowledge the key influence of individual, family, and societal structures on such activism. Drawing on our work with girls in a participatory visual research project in a rural community in South Africa, we consider examples of partnership and collaboration between the adult research team and the young participants. We highlight their agency in mobilizing adults to partner and support community and policy change to address traditional practices of early and forced marriage in this setting. We conclude that collaborative engagement with adults as partners can support activism and advocacy led by girls in contexts of traditional leadership.

Contributor Notes

Sadiyya Haffejee (ORCID: 0000-0002-9513-6861) is a research fellow in the School of Education at University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN). E-mail: sadiyyah@uj.ac.za

Astrid Treffry-Goatley (ORCID: 0000-0002-2489-9255) is a researcher in the School of Education at UKZN. E-mail: Treffry-Goatley@ukzn.ac.za

Lisa Wiebesiek (ORCID: 0000-0003-4928-2080) is the Research Manager of the Centre for Visual Methodologies for Social Change at UKZN. E-mail: wiebesiekl@ukzn.ac.za

Nkonzo Mkhize is a Masters candidate in the School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Email: MkhizeN2@ukzn.ac.za

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Girlhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

Cover Girlhood Studies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
17
Keywords:
collaboration; gender-based violence; intergenerational; rural; Social Ills Fighters (SIFs); traditional authority
Print Publication Date:
01 Jun 2020
Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2020
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2020

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