Women on Farms Project (WFP)

About Women on Farms Project

Women on Farms Project (WFP) grew out of a 1992 Lawyers for Human Rights initiative specifically designed to address the specialised needs of women who live and work on commercial farms. In 1996, WFP became an independent NGO. Today, with nearly three decades of experience, WFP is recognised as one of South Africa's most important feminist rural development organisations, a Shukumisa coalition member, and a leading voice on the rights of farm women.

WFP's work spans the Western Cape (since 1996) and Northern Cape (since 2009), with their main office in Stellenbosch. They work in partnership with women's rights groups (Vroue Regte Groepe / VRGs) on farms across the two provinces.

Why Farm Women Need Specialist Support

Women who live and work on farms occupy an extreme position of vulnerability in South Africa. Many live in employer-owned housing with no lease, meaning that leaving an abusive partner can mean immediate eviction. They are geographically isolated — often hours from the nearest town by foot — and lack independent transport. Their employment is frequently informal, seasonal, and unprotected. Social and cultural norms in farming communities historically subordinate women to male authority structures, and police response times in rural areas are often measured in hours. The result is that farm women face high rates of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation with almost no practical access to help.

Services and Programmes

WFP works across three portfolios:

Labour Rights — supporting farm women to understand and claim their rights in employment, including protection from unfair dismissal, eviction, and labour exploitation. In many cases, an employer's power over a woman's housing enables or extends the abuse she experiences from a partner.

Social Rights — WFP's social rights portfolio includes two programmes central to GBV: - Maintenance — assisting farm women with applying for child maintenance, an economic lifeline that reduces dependency on abusive partners. - Violence Against Women — providing information, case support, and accompaniment for farm women who have experienced domestic violence or sexual abuse. WFP helps women navigate protection orders, report to police, and access social services — all of which present extraordinary practical challenges in farm environments.

Organisation Building — WFP strengthens the capacity of VRG women's rights groups on farms to function as self-organised, locally rooted support and advocacy structures. The long-term goal is a social movement of farm women capable of advocating collectively for their rights.

Food Gardens and Economic Empowerment — WFP supports agroecology food gardens as an economic independence strategy, recognising that financial dependency is a core mechanism trapping women in abusive situations.

Operating Hours

Monday to Friday: 08:00–16:30