Side by Side
Side by Side is a growing global movement of people of faith who want to see gender justice become a reality across the world. As a global network, Side by Side draws together faith communities in different countries and works to meet local and global challenges to bring about justice and equality.
Our global partnership
WWSOSA, a member of Side by Side, made a successful submission to host the movement in South Africa from 2021-2024.The International Coordinator of Side by Side, Nontando Hadebe, a South African with roots in Zimbabwe and Botswana. The global aims of Side by Side are very similar to the national aims of WWSOSA, with both organisations believing that the faith movement for gender justice needs to be rooted in local action supported by global action, and that global action needs to be guided by local realities. Our values are almost identical, and we are both driven by an overriding vision for the increasing importance of the faith sector in impacting the success of national and global efforts to attain gender justice and end GBV, given that GBV is the most pervasive symptom of gender injustice.
Phephisa Survivors Network
The Phephisa Survivors Network exists to give voice to survivors and to advocate for safer environment for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa. The network provides safe spaces for survivors to heal through their network of survivor support groups. Phepisa mobilises survivors to speak out about issues that directly affect them. A key focus is to influence community stakeholders and faith leaders to act to prevent and respond positively to issues related to SGBV in their communities.
Our national partnership in South Africa
We partner with Phephisa and include Phephisa on on the management to guide the leadership of the coalition to ensure a survivor-focused approach in the work of the WWSOSA Coalition.
KZN Network on Violence Against Women
The KZN Network operates in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa to support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the journey of healing and justice, to run prevention programmes in local communities and to represent the province in the national agenda for a South Africa free of violence, in particular gender-based violence and femicide.
Our provincial partnership in KwaZulu-Natal involves development and support of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in local communities, with stakeholders comprising of local government, local traditional leadership, police services, service providers and the justice system. These RRTs spearhead violence-free zones through a Prevention in Action programme which creates spaces to plan and act to end sexual and gender-based violence.
