Marcia Mandiyanike is a distinguished Gender and Development Specialist committed to fostering the delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.

Marcia is currently pursuing her PhD in Gender Studies at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, building upon her Master of Arts in Development Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies from the University of Botswana. She previously worked as a consultant for Letsema in partnership with the British High Commission in Botswana and Westminster Foundation for Democracy and is currently involved in providing technical advisory for several non-profit and non-governmental organisations championing gender justice. Her research encompasses a wide range of interests, including gender and sustainable development, media activism, African feminism, intersectionality, social justice, transformation, and equality.

Her PhD thesis is focused on violence against women and the media. Through extensive archival research and interviews with state and non-state actors, her PhD research titled “Beyond the 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence: The South African media coverage and portrayal of violence against women, 2015-2020” delves into the politicisation of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence not just by government officials but also by non-governmental organisations and the media. Prima facie, there are notable differences in activism and coverage of violence during the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, hence the study focuses on efforts beyond the 16 days of activism. It is her expectation that at the end of the research she will have successfully attempted to analyse the impact of the media on violence against women beyond the 16 days of activism from a feminist perspective and contribute to the growing discourse on African feminism; and more broadly decolonisation in literature by contributing knowledge on gender, violence and the media.