“Strolling” as a Gendered Experience: A Feminist Analysis of Young Females in Cape Town

Desiree Hansson
University of Cape Town, Institute of Criminology

Citation: Hansson, Desiree. “’Strolling’ as a Gendered Experience: A Feminist Analysis of Young Females in Cape Town.” Children, Youth and Environments 13(1), Spring 2003. Retrieved [date] from http://colorado.edu/journals/cye.

Abstract

This paper uses a feminist perspective to investigate the daily lives of girls who “stroll” on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa. The dynamics of daily street life are described and group composition and individual roles are demarcated. The common assumption that girls who enter the streets are caught up in prostitution rackets, and that this explains why fewer girls are found on the streets than boys, is rejected. Reasons for the presence of fewer girls are on the streets are sought in their home backgrounds instead.

Keywords: street children; girls; South Africa