Alt-right and gender in Africa

Author Pontsho Pilane is a scholar, writer, trainer, and media and advocacy strategist in health and social justice. She’s an award-winning journalist focusing on the intersection of class, gender, and health. In 2015, Pilane started #FreeToBleed, a campaign advocating for free sanitary pads for all people who menstruate in South Africa. She is a contributor to the Black Futures anthology, co-author of Flow: The Book about Menstruation, and author of Power and Faith: How Evangelical Churches are Quietly Shaping Our Democracy. 

Pilane says: “The alt-right’s influence is organising in Africa, it isn’t just creeping in. We’re witnessing a coordinated campaign where Western reactionary forces partner with local organisations and people to roll back gender rights. Earlier this year, these groups gathered under the guise of ‘African values’ in Kenya to openly strategise how to curtail the rights of gender minorities and counter progressive policies across the continent. This is a well-funded and ideologically aligned backlash, dressed in cultural authenticity.”