​​Irrespective of income, class, race, social status and age, many South African women today still do not know their rights when it comes to matters such as marriage, employment, housing, and finances. Furthermore, women face unique challenges in accessing the law and by implication, justice is often unattainable to them. To address this, Ms Monja Posthumus-Meyjes and a dynamique team of legal experts at the Stellenbosch University Law Clinic started the Women's Legal Empowerment Toolbox project to educate women about the law.

To showcase this project as part of Women's Month, Posthumus-Meyjes tells us more about how this project benefits women in their service area.

​Tell us more about the Women's Toolbox

The Women's Toolbox was born from the idea of trying to provide women with knowledge to empower themselves regarding their rights. We have had a few one on one sessions with women seeking advice on various matters. We, therefore, started a pilot workshop and called it a Women's Legal Empowerment Toolbox. This project has been nominated and shortlisted as a finalist in the category “Empowerment of Women in the Community" at the 2019 Gender Mainstreaming Awards. The winners of the award will be announced in September.

Why was this project started?

By just looking at our client base within the areas we service, we found that there was an immense need to educate women regarding the law, the justice system and their rights in general. Still in its pilot phase, we have started presenting workshops and awareness sessions to women in and around Stellenbosch and we hope to take it wider to reach even more women.

What is the biggest need among women who attend these sessions?

We found that there is a need among women for a better understanding of the law and their rights as women. Needs differ from person to person. Whereas one woman would like a better understanding of her rights as an employee, another might have problems understanding what her rights are against an abusive partner and another might be struggling with housing security. We also found that a lot of women needed a better understanding of the law and customary marriages. Through these workshops, we aim to provide as much information as possible on various aspects for them to empower themselves.​