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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for ACMS
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DTSTART:20250101T000000
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DTSTART;TZID=Africa/Johannesburg:20260415T123000
DTEND;TZID=Africa/Johannesburg:20260415T133000
DTSTAMP:20260803T142935Z
CREATED:20260803T142935Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T142935Z
UID:30000225-1776256200-1776259800@migration.org.za
SUMMARY:ACMS SEMINAR: Fixed Systems\, Mobile Lives
DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Dr Lucy Pearl Khofi\nDiscussant: Professor Busisiwe Nkala-Dlamini (Wits University\, Department of Social Work)\nTitle: Fixed Systems\, Mobile Lives: Structural Misalignment and the Negotiation of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care among Mobile Adolescents and Young People in Johannesburg\nDate: Wednesday\, 15 April 2026\nTime: 12:30 – 13:30\nVenue: ACMS Seminar Room (2163)\, Solomon Mahlangu House (2nd floor)\, East Campus\, Wits University (directions)\nZoom link: https://tinyurl.com/3dwkccpp\, Meeting ID: 957 8662 4514\, Passcode: 012731\nRSVP: Email ntokozo.yingwana@wits.ac.za \nAbstract:\nSouth Africa has strong legal and policy commitments towards universal health coverage (UHC) and the protection of sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR). However\, mobile adolescents and young people (mAYP) continue to face significant challenges in accessing SRHR services\, particularly in rapidly urbanising contexts characterised by high levels of internal and cross-border mobility. Nurture4Youth aims to support mAYP’s health and wellbeing by strengthening their capacity to navigate access to SRHR services in new and often precarious environments. \nThis paper draws on rapid ethnographic assessments conducted in Johannesburg\, including inner-city and Soweto township sites\, to examine how mAYP experience and navigate access to SRHR services. The rapid ethnographic assessment approach included participatory methods such as transect walks\, structured observations of key spaces\, community engagements\, and in-depth interviews and discussions with mAYP\, healthcare providers\, and community stakeholders. \nA thematic analysis of the data highlights the structural misalignment between mobile populations and territorially fixed health systems. Findings show that access to SRHR services is not determined solely by availability\, but is actively negotiated through temporal\, spatial\, and social processes. Young people described waking before sunrise to secure a place in clinic queues\, often facing long waiting times and the risk of being turned away. Frequent mobility across neighbourhoods\, provinces\, and national borders disrupts continuity of care\, while health systems remain spatially fixed and administratively fragmented. Informal networks and community-based organisations mediated access by directing young people to specific clinics\, sharing information about service availability\, and\, in some cases\, facilitating entry into services where formal access pathways were limited. These forms of mediation were uneven\, with access shaped by young people’s social connections\, gendered experiences\, and familiarity with local support structures. \nThis paper argues that SRHR service delivery in urban South Africa is structurally misaligned with the lived realities of mAYP\, requiring them to continuously negotiate their access to care. These findings have implications for achieving UHC and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals\, particularly in relation to health\, gender equality\, and reducing inequalities. \nAbout the researcher/presenter:\nLucy Pearl Khofi is a medical anthropologist and public health researcher with interdisciplinary expertise in gender\, migration\, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)\, food insecurity\, and structural vulnerability in urban and peri-urban contexts in Southern Africa. She is a Postdoctoral Researcher at ACMS\, University of the Witwatersrand\, where she is part of the NIHR-funded Nurture4Youth project focusing on mobility\, youth wellbeing\, and access to SRHR services.
URL:https://migration.org.za/acms-event/acms-seminar-fixed-systems-mobile-lives/
LOCATION:ACMS Seminar Room 2163\, South East Wing\, Second Floor\, Solomon Mahlangu House\, University of the Witwatersrand East Campus
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://migration.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Fixed-Systems-Mobile-Lives_LucyKhofi_seminar_poster_15April2026.jpg
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260422
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260423
DTSTAMP:20260803T142936Z
CREATED:20260803T142936Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T142936Z
UID:30000226-1776816000-1776902399@migration.org.za
SUMMARY:VIDEO: Fixed Systems\, Mobile Lives
DESCRIPTION:By Reabetswe Maputla \nSouth Africa has strong legal and policy commitments toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). However\, findings from a rapid ethnographic assessment in Johannesburg\, across inner-city and Soweto\, highlight a clear gap between policy and lived reality. \nOn 15 April\, ACMS post-doctoral fellow Dr Lucy Pearl Khofi presented at the ACMS Migration & Society Seminar Series a paper on: ‘Fixed Systems\, Mobile Lives: Structural Misalignment and the Negotiation of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care among Mobile Adolescents and Young People in Johannesburg.’ Professor Busisiwe Nkala-Dlamini of the Wits University\, Department of Social Work\, was the discussant. \nMobile adolescents and young people (mAYP)\, particularly in rapidly urbanising settings shaped by internal and cross-border mobility\, face significant barriers to accessing SRHR services. Long waiting times\, overburdened facilities\, and rigid administrative systems often make access difficult. Many are forced to choose between seeking healthcare and meeting immediate economic or family responsibilities. \nDr Khofi argues that SRHR service delivery is structurally misaligned with the lived realities of mAYP. While health systems assume stability and continuity\, young people’s lives are often mobile\, uncertain\, and economically constrained. As a result\, access to care is not guaranteed\, but has to be actively negotiated\, and is frequently uneven. \nThe seminar challenged narratives that place responsibility on young people’s healthcare seeking behaviours solely on them; instead pointing to systemic and institutional barriers as central to the issue. Therefore\, despite strong frameworks on paper\, meaningful access remained inconsistent in practice. \nThese insights have important implications for achieving UHC and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals\, particularly those related to health\, gender equality\, and reducing inequalities. Addressing these challenges requires rethinking how health systems are designed and implemented to better align with the realities of mobile populations. \nIf you missed this intriguing public seminar\, catch the short video recap below:
URL:https://migration.org.za/acms-event/video-fixed-systems-mobile-lives/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://migration.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Lucy_seminar_photo5_15April2026-e1778510924240.jpeg
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260427
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260428
DTSTAMP:20260803T142936Z
CREATED:20260803T142936Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T142936Z
UID:30000227-1777248000-1777334399@migration.org.za
SUMMARY:BOOK LAUNCH: East African Queer and Trans Displacements
DESCRIPTION:Over the past decade\, East Africa has become synonymous with state-sponsored homo/ transphobia\, marked by draconian legislation and recurring moral panics. These escalating dynamics have forced many LGBTQI East Africans to flee their homes. Yet it would be wrong to characterise East Africa solely as a producer or host of LGBTQI refugees. It is also a site of activism and community\, of belonging and enterprise\, where the limits of protection mechanisms are tested and redefined. Bringing together diverse case studies and interdisciplinary perspectives\, this collection features original creative works by queer and trans diasporic writers and artists to explore the drivers\, impacts and meanings of queer and trans displacement in and from the region. East African Queer and Trans Displacements is an open access collection that offers the first in-depth examination of queer and trans displacement in the region. \nThe latest book launch was held on 13 April 2026 at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS). It brought together three of the editors—Dr. B. Camminga (University of Bristol)\, Dr Barbara Bompani (University of Parma) and Dr John Marnell (Wits University)—in conversation with Dr Kudzaiishe Vanyoro (Wits University) and Shinta Jennifer Ayebazibwe (University of Johannesburg). \n  \n			\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				\n			\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				Speaking about his book chapter\, titled: ‘I sucked a lot of dicks to get this place!’ Homemaking and care practices among East African LGBTQ refugees\, Dr Marnell explained that one of the things that really stood out for him\, when he was conducting his fieldwork\, was the level of variation in housing practices\, locations\, and the kinds of different social arrangements that existed between housings. These range from people living in dire\, vulnerable\, and often dangerous situations\, right through to people living in fancy complexes in the suburbs of northern Johannesburg\, to a pseudo-statehouse that is organically developed in a Cape Town multi-level boarding house\, which now houses a big contingent of queer and trans refugees. \nHe goes on to argue that “Part of the problem… is that so much of the focus is always on protection contexts. Which in this case usually is a dysfunctional asylum system or these very legal barriers to protection.” \nWatch the video below to learn more about their chapter: \n			\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				\n					\n					\n				\n				\n			\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				Also see Dr Camminga discussing their chapter on Parallel legal regimes: Homotransnationalism\, LGBTQI+ refugees and a failing international protection system: \n			\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				\n					\n					\n				\n				\n			\n				\n				\n				\n				\n				Download the book for free here: East African Queer and Trans Displacements. \nThe next book launch will be hosted by the Queer Populations and Policies Network (QPaP) on 25 June 2026\, 4-5pm (UK time). To register for it\, click here: https://forms.gle/ep6NKwYjXGVJqPNo8. \n[Featured photograph on header by ACMS\, and the in-text photograph is by WiCDS.]
URL:https://migration.org.za/acms-event/book-launch-east-african-queer-and-trans-displacements/
CATEGORIES:Book launch
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