Ms. Josina Z. Machel is a Human rights defender and advocate for Women survivors of Gender-based Violence. She holds an MSc degree in Sociology (Gender) from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Social Science, Sociology and Political Science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Following a horrific domestic violence attack that left her blind in one eye, Ms. Machel founded the Kuhluka Movement, a non-profit initiative that empowers women survivors of Gender-based violence, to which she dedicates her life. The Kuhluka Movement premised on the principles of advocacy and mitigation, bridges the gap between giving a voice to women survivors, whilst providing them with a safe haven in their time of need.

Kuhluka provides a platform to engage and provide practical solutions to addressing gender based-violence. The movement focuses on preventative measures to stop gender-based violence by bringing custodians of culture together to interrogate practices and traditions that perpetrate gender-based violence, and spark conversations for traditional leaders, men across communities to being to questions the behaviors that foster an environment that tolerates violence towards women. Kuhluka Movement aims to provide shelters and a safe haven for women transitioning from abusive relationships to healing and living independent of abusive partners.

She is also the founder and director of Protect Her Life, an insurance company that seeks to support the safety of women who are subjected to unprecedented levels of gender-based violence. The company provides easily accessible tools to use in the event of abuse or an emergency, by providing comprehensive insurance and emergency assistance packages specially designed for women.

She has extensive experience in advocacy, political advisory and management of projects on gender -based violence, Human development and Gender equality in the private and public sectors in SADC and international level. Ms. Machel was recently elected to be the representative of Survivors of Violence, Mozambique, in the National Reference Group – Civil Society for the new Global Spotlight Initiative, a multi-year initiative by the EU and the UN which seeks to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and to bring focused attention to this issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the Centre of efforts to achieve gender Equality and women’s empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The UNFPA has appointed her as a Celebrity Spokesperson for the SADC region. At the same time, she is one of the GBV Main Ambassador’s for the Ministry of Higher Education “Higher Health programme” in South Africa. In 2018, Ms. Machel co-founded with other professionals, of the SOZO network, which has as primary purpose the providing a “Safe Haven” for woman within the professional arena who are faced with the trauma of domestic and emotional abuse.

Her career started in 2001, when she joined Anglo-American, as its Human Resources Officer, where she was extensively involved in providing policy and strategic insight on issues such as HIV, Wellness and employment equity.

In 2007, Ms. Machel started a consulting and training company Pfukani (Ltd) - The first company in Mozambique to design, coordinate and manage wellness and communication tools for HIV/AIDS.

She later joined the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), where she led the work on political actors in the AIDS pandemic by enhancing governance and AIDS programmes, and providing research and analyses around those two specific issues.

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