Doo Aphane is a Swazi lawyer and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

campaigner. She has worked with many human and women's rights organisations. In 2012 she was successful in changing Swaziland's law to allow married women to hold property in their own name.

Career

Doo Aphane has a

master of law A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree and practises as a lawyer, specialising in gender law. She founded the Women for Women Development Consultancy, she remains a director of the firm, and also founded the legal aid clinic of the Council of Swaziland Churches. Aphane conducts legal research and is the co-author of several academic papers. She was the first national coordinator of women and law for Swaziland for the Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa and was also the regional coordinator of six southern African countries for the Women’s Legal Rights Initiative. Aphane was deputy chair of the central coordinating body of the

Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives aroun ...

and was a member of the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...

's technical advisory committee on HIV and AIDS from 2007–2012. She was also a board member of Swaziland Young Women’s Network, the AIDS Information and Support Centre and remains a member of the African Feminist Forum. Aphane warned the Swaziland government that a prolonged teachers' strike in 2012 was affecting the education of children and their non-attendance at school exposed them to the risk of sexual assault and misuse of drugs. Also in 2012 she won a case at the Swaziland Supreme Court challenging the prohibition on married women owning property either in their own name or jointly with her husband; the law was subsequently amended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aphane, Doo Swazi lawyers Swazi human rights activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)