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Sex Workers as Free Agents and as Victims: Elucidating the Life Worlds of Female Sex Workers and the Discursive Patterns that Shape Public Understanding of their Work

In South Africa and many other countries worldwide, sex work is criminalised. This invariably seems to lead to back-door prostitution - an unregulated industry where sex workers are vulnerable to being exploited by pimps, brothel owners and law enforcement officers. In discussions about sex work and sex workers, two dominant views are evident: a) Sex workers freely choose to sell sex as a good way of earning an income; or b) sex workers are victims of their circumstances who are driven into the industry through direct coercion or as a result of dire poverty.

Municipal solid waste management in South Africa: evaluation of waste to energy technologies for generating electricity from municipal solid waste, Gauteng Province

Waste to energy technologies have been presented as one of the avenues to improve the management of solid waste whilst promoting clean and healthy urban environments through the recovery of waste and generation of electricity. Research suggests that with the right investment in technologies and institutional changes, waste can potentially become a resource that can contribute to the Socio-economic development of cities.

Evaluating the Victim Empowerment Programme in addressing gender-based violence in the North West Province

Gender-based violence is one of the major social problems that affects the quality of life and social functioning of many people, including women and girls globally. It contributes negatively to the physical, social, emotional and psychological well-being of any individual. While research on gender-based violence against women is documented, the scarcity of evaluation research focusing on social work interventions and programmes in rendering services to victims of GBV in South Africa is sparse.

Experiences of senior women traditional leaders in addressing women abuse in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa; An afrocentric and nego-feminist approach

Women across the world are subjected to violence and experience gruesome forms of abuse. The problem of women abuse has exacerbated to far worse incidents being reported. Since the establishment of the new democratic dispensation in South Africa, this dire social problem has been acknowledged as a prominent political issue which is deeply connected to the private spaces of women.

"Orphan artefacts": Investigating the relevance of classical artefacts in the Iziko collection, Cape Town

Since 1998 a collection of 238 classical antiquities, many of which were previously on display for over a century, has been in storage in the Iziko Social History Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. These artefacts are of a low priority for display in the museum and the skills necessary to conserve them are at present unavailable to the museum staff.

The effect of a systemic functional linguistics-based self-intervention programme on the ESL grammar proficiency of grade 8 learners

English proficiency is regarded important for economic empowerment in South Africa, since English is the official business language of the country. South Africa is, however, a multilingual country, with 11 official languages. The majority of South African learners do not speak English as first language, but study English as an additional language in school.

Adolescent learner pregnancy in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: An exploration of socioeconomic factors

Adolescence is widely accepted as one the most difficult periods in one’s life-span and is characterised by significant life events, health risks and maturational challenges. Teenagers globally and most notably within South Africa, have a range of age-specific health risks that include an increased risk of being a victim of violence, increased risk of suicide, increased risk of accidental death and an increased risk of unplanned pregnancy for female adolescent girls. On average, within South Africa, up to 11% of teenagers have an unplanned pregnancy and this is inspite of the number of national interventions that have been implemented over the last 20 years.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Assata Shakur’s Self-writing: Torture, Authorisation and Liberation

The study conceptualises self-writing through the lived experiences of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Assata Shakur. The specific focus is on three themes, namely: torture, authorisation, and liberation. These themes are discussed through narrative and thematic analysis that aims at emphasising how the text can be analysed through meaning, symbols and patterns.

Sport for development and peace in communities: A case study of the ‘sport for peace and social transformation programme’ in Uasin Gishu, Kenya

This study examined the role of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) in peacebuilding, focussing particularly on the case of the Kenya Community Sports Foundation’s (KESOFO) Sport for Peace and Social Transformation (SPST) programme in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. It was meant to provide an in-depth understanding of the role generally played by community NGO programmes in fostering peace in communities through variations of the SDP framework.

The Feasibility of Disseminating and Implementing Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Survivors of Trauma in South Africa: A mixed method pilot and feasibility study

The study investigated the feasibility of disseminating and implementing brief prolonged exposure therapy (PE) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in South Africa. I used a mixed method design to investigate and explore the broad aim, which was to implement PE in a South African context, and to explore whether PE is feasible and acceptable in a South African context. The study had three aims