Every August, South Africa celebrates Women’s Month, where tribute is paid to the more than 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.
This year marks the 67th Anniversary since that march, according to the South African Government. This milestone recognises how far the country has come in transforming society, particularly the transformation of unequal power relations between women and men.
Beyond its significance in South Africa, this Women’s Month also holds special meaning for the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). It is the celebration of 5 years under which HERI has been supported by the Advancing Womxn initiative. The grant, which was first awarded in 2019, finishes this year.
Awarded to women researchers at UCT in order to make space for more women’s voices to be heard – both for their own advancement and for the advancement of others HERI was recognised under the “For womxn by womxn: conducting research in a field in which womxn are in short supply” category.
“Advancing Womxn funding and exposure has helped us immensely,” says HERI Co-director Dr Robyn Pickering. “It has allowed us to grow a cohort of young South Africans and bring them together in new ways.”
Specifically, the grant enabled funding of PhD and postdoc students studying everything from hominin fossils themselves to the origins of technology, to ancient environments and transformative practice. It has also been central to HERI rolling out an African training network, which started this year.
The funding was also used to launch the annual All Women Field Camp, where younger women were given training with a goal of growing inclusivity and keeping them in the discipline. Difficult issues affecting womxn are also discussed at the camp, including sexual harassment and menstruation in the field.
“This work has helped deepen the understanding of what the discipline is lacking, and has led us to look critically at practice and explore new ways of enhancing African connections and scholarship going forward,” says HERI Co-director Professor Rebecca Ackermann.