After the democratisation of South Africa in 1994, the influx of migrants from other African countries increased dramatically. Despite reconciliation initiatives, old patterns of racism (deeply rooted in the country’s apartheid past) combined with new forms of discrimination, such as xenophobia, have played out through the country’s period of political transition. Migrants and refugees are, by their very status as foreigners, vulnerable to xenophobia, which can be defined as Violence against foreigners and violence against women are two forms of violence that are internationally condemned but are normalised ways in which South African society interacts with minority and vulnerable groups. Foreign women2 in South Africa therefore face a double jeopardy: they are at the intersection of these two groups that are so vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and violence. Although the term ‘xenophobia’ may conjure up images of the violent attacks against foreigners in May 2008, migrant women in South Africa have been experiencing more subtle and insidious forms of xenophobia on a daily basis for as long as they have been in the country. These forms include not only physical violence, but verbal and psychological abuse, structural and institutional violence, as well as cultural and ethnic discrimination.

Romi Sigsworth, Collet Ngwane and Angelica Pino
The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
The Gendered Nature of Xenophobia in South Africa
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This research project was made possible with the support of Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Southern Africa Regional Office.