This week in South Africa we have celebrated Freedom Day, which marks 18 years since we became a democracy. In the new South Africa, our Constitution places a duty upon us to promote equality in all spheres of our lives. Gender equality is central. Nelson Mandela said, “freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression”. In the last few years, we’ve seen moves the world over to restrict women’s equality in the Jewish world. In Jerusalem our sister organisation, the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), brought a case to the Supreme Court against women being segregated to the back of buses. In Modí’in this month, a woman was removed from the stage of a circus after an ultra-Orthodox audience member complained. Here in South Africa, women’s voices have been slowly removed from singing at our secular communal events.