Patriarchy is on the retreat in pockets of the world. It's about time. It belongs in the past, along with other blights on humanity like slavery and smallpox. Hashtag campaigns have put the spotlight on abuse - what was suffered silently in the past is now erupting into the open in full-throated roar.
What was previously regarded as a shameful secret is now exposed as a social ill that exacts a high cost on society. From rape to pay disparity, from unfair division of labour to demeaning comments, we can start honest conversations about how these injustices hold us back and how we can start to change the script for our children.
Women's rights are human rights and it is shocking that half of humanity are still waiting to be recognised as fully fledged human beings capable of living independent, useful lives without the permission of men.
Sadly, patriarchy is still prevalent in many parts of the world, and the trail of bodies of women who have died at the hands of their partners is a grisly reminder that power does not give up without a struggle.
South African women - like those in other parts of the world, such as India - live with the knowledge that chunks of the male population believe they are worthless, and their lives and bodies - let alone their minds and their hearts - do not matter.On Thursday we commemorate the 1956 march to the Union Buildings by some 20,000 women of all races to protest the extension of pass laws to women. Dismissively, neither the then prime minister, JG Strijdom, nor anyone from his office, would meet them. Men are still treating women dismissively, but the successors of those 1956 leaders are demanding change.
This week, South African women taking part in the #TotalShutdown march against gender-based violence would not allow the president to treat them as dismissively as his 1956 counterpart had done. Not happy that Cyril Ramaphosa was not at the Union Buildings, the marchers insisted on meeting him. And, unlike Strijdom, Ramaphosa came, acknowledging their concern by saying: "I am sorry - I really am deeply sorry - that a number of women in our country have not had the opportunity to enjoy all the rights in the constitution because they are violated, abused, assaulted and a number are also killed."
It is a sign of progress - the head of government is more willing to listen - and the women are not taking no for an answer.It has not always been so. Women's rights have for too long languished in the shadows of other rights that need rectifying. Who can forget the patriarchy of the Jacob Zuma presidency, when Fezekile Kuzwayo, known as Khwezi, the woman who had accused Zuma of rape, was vilified to the extent she fled South Africa? Who can forget how the ANC Women's League - shamefully - came to Zuma's defence instead of reaching out to a traumatised young woman?
But who, too, could forget the silent protest of four young women as Zuma spoke at the Independent Electoral Commission results announcement in 2016? Holding placards, they reminded us of Kuzwayo, and of the unacceptably high number of women who are raped and abused in SA. Their protest was brave and unexpected and signalled to powerful men that they would not be protected forever.
This week's marches against gender-based violence also signal a change in approach. Recognising that this scourge knows no class or racial boundaries, women from all walks of life united to make themselves heard. And even though the women's league decided to march separately, there was no argument between the organisers of the marches about the relevance of the matter for South African women. This is a moment that should be celebrated.
This is a moment when we stop paying lip service to the women of 1956 and instead pick up the torch they lit. The voices that once whispered in dark corners will no longer be silenced. And SA will be the better for listening...