LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Strong parallels between Alabama abortion vote and reproductive rights in SA and Kenya

Tucked in alongside the larger-than-life statues of Confederate soldiers at the Montgomery State Capital, the much smaller statue of Dr Sims hails him as the “Father of Gynaecology” and lists his numerous international awards for the treatment and care of women’s reproductive rights.Dr Sims’ legacy was cemented by operating on girls and women he bought as slaves.

While we hoped to find shared successes in the two struggles for equal rights, we did not expect to find an equal number of shared limitations on girls and women’s’ reproductive freedom still in place today. Even after democratic elections in 1994, women and girls in South Africa were still required to physically touch those they accused of rape in court, a legal requirement that ensured many rape survivors would never come to court out of fear. While this restriction has been removed, the stigma of reporting rape remains. These girls and women, in both Alabama and South Africa, are often not counted in polls.

In October 2018, across the state, in both Montgomery and tiny towns located far from the political centre, women cried out in solidarity with the young girls on the BRAVE road trip. The girls empathised with the plea of girls in Alabama — and united with them to help address not only the wrongs of the past, but the rapid deterioration of their human rights today.

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