Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

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Bridging the Past: Redeveloping parts of Fordsburg to create secure and empowering environments for women
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-03) Dar, Sarah; Szentesi, Anita
The safety of women in public spaces has become an increasingly unsettling issue in South Africa. One of the most severe violations of human rights that still occurs in communities worldwide is gender-based violence, a phenomenon that has a foundation in gender inequity. Gender-based violence affects both men and women, but women and girls comprise most of victims. Public spaces have favored the safety of men, whereas women struggle for their wellbeing in the same space. There is a need for a re-imagined women only space concept, in which women can evolve in, in hopes of creating safer spaces. (UN-Habitat, 2015). The proposal for this thesis is a Skills and Development Centre for women. The Centre will aim to create women run businesses in male dominated spaces with the research focusing on women empowerment through education, and further investigating past architectural theories on women-only design.