TAC

“AIDS is the biggest killer of pregnant women in South Africa… There are some communities where HIV prevalence among women is 60%. Our country is failing women” (Mail & Guardian editorial, November, 2006)

“The organization [TAC] has launched a campaign to encourage communities to support survivors of sexual assault. The logic behind tackling violence against women is that many women contract HIV through violent and non-consensual sex.” (Mail & Guardian June 24/30 2006)

TAC’s founder, Zackie Achmat, said in an interview,“…[the work is] to deal with gender inequality and gender-based violence, and by that I mean both violence against women and violence that men commit against themselves – how we beat each other up, how we kill each other. [Also,] gender-based inequality and class inequality, making sure that there is a decent social security system and that there is employment in the country." (Mail & Guardian, November 30, 2006)

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)

TAC advocates for increased access to treatment, care and support services for people living with HIV, and campaigns to reduce new HIV infections. Since 1998, TAC has held government accountable for health care service delivery, campaigned against official AIDS denialism and cultivated community leadership on HIV/AIDS.

THE CHANGE PROJCET: to build women’s leadership and programming

TAC's women-leaders project aimed to reflect the true demographics of TAC’s membership, which was 80% - 90% women.

The project strategy included building women leaders at the local levels (in a rural district), encouraging them to surface issues from the grassroots, such as the links between gender-based violence, domestic violence and HIV. The project also aimed to develop a gender perspective via the Treatment Literacy Program’s training and education curriculum. Moreover, TAC used the National Congress to politicize the need for strong women leadership. Leading up to the National Congress, women leaders in two provinces spearheaded women’s conferences to engage women on their rights (and their access to those rights).

VISIBLE CHANGES

Generally speaking, TAC’s change project resulted in women feeling comfortable enough to speak out at different levels, including at the top echelons of the organization. Women were able to more effectively challenge political issues and safely share their experiences with HIV. TAC’s project also surfaced the need to properly support women in their new leadership roles through skills-development training.

The National Congress at this time saw a strong woman elected to General Secretary. After the conference, women in leadership roles at the national level increased from 15% to 60%. At the workshops leading up to the National Congress, the women facilitators successfully served as role models for how women can effectively lead and facilitate change.

New and previous women leaders also gained greater visibility through key media channels, again providing strong role models for other women. TAC’s website developed a focus area on women’s and girls’ experiences, while the organization’s newsletter dedicated a section to women and HIV, as well as a regular section to tackling other previously invisible issues, such as the experiences of lesbian women and men's issues around expected definitions of masculinity.

TAC further raised awareness of key issues through an educational booklet documenting women’s stories, as well as pamphlets and targeted campaigns that addressed hate crimes and other forms of violence.

TAC also successfully developed a number of women’s programs:
• PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission)
• HPV (Human Papilloma Virus – a virus which leads to the development of cervical cancer in women)
• Reproductive Rights
• Pregnancy in our Lives (women learning about their bodies)

Treatment Literacy Coordinators, previously viewed within TAC as a feminine arena disparagingly labeled the ‘nursing school’, now includes more men, which has broadened the audience reach and provided positive role modeling for both men and women around literacy and gender norms.