{{Short description|South African activist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Dawn Cavanagh | birth_date = 23 March 1962 | birth_place = Westwood

| citizenship = | education = Fairvale Senior Secondary School University of Natal University of South Africa Emerson High School | known_for = Activist | spouse = Brian Cavanagh | relatives = Danette Voorhis Donna Patton Debbie DuVall Daniel Marone, Jr }} '''Dawn Cavanagh''' (23 March 1962) is a South African activist, writer and feminist.<ref name="unngls" />

== Early life and education == Cavanagh was born on 23 March 1962. She attended Fairvale Senior Secondary School in Wentworth, KwaZulu-Natal, and graduated from the University of Natal with a Bachelor of Science degree in social work in 1982. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from the University of South Africa in 1996 and studied for a master's degree in development studies from the University of Natal.<ref name=unngls>{{cite web|title=Patricia Dawn Cavanagh - UN-NGLS|url=https://www.unngls.org/IMG/docx/DAWN_CAVANAGH.docx|publisher=United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service|access-date=29 November 2017|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318103915/https://www.unngls.org/IMG/docx/DAWN_CAVANAGH.docx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Career == Cavanagh has been active in South Africa in the fields of equal access to healthcare, HIV/AIDS activism, women's rights, sexual rights and reproductive rights.<ref>{{cite news|title=Celebrating queer voices|url=http://city-press.news24.com/Trending/celebrating-queer-voices-20151111|accessdate=29 November 2017|work=City Press|date=16 November 2015|language=en}}</ref> She has worked on social justice projects and development in local communities and in regional and international spaces.<ref name="cooper">{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Meghan |title=Preventing the gendered reproduction of citizenship: the role of social movements in South Africa |journal=Gender & Development |date=November 2011 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=357–370 |doi=10.1080/13552074.2011.625634 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41306010 |access-date=10 June 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 2004, she worked for the Forum for the Empowerment of Women<ref name=":0">[https://www.awid.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/changing_their_world_-_the_one_in_nine_campaign_south_africa.pdf Association for Women’s Rights in Development website]</ref> and Coalition of African Lesbians,<ref name=":1" /> the first Black lesbian rights organization in South Africa. She also worked for Oxfam<ref>[https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/604026/cs-oxfam-history-south-africa-010216-en.pdf;jsessionid=827827303C32514C3032487E5966E85C?sequence=1 Oxfam Library website]</ref> as well as the Civil Rights Defenders, Akina Mama wa Afrika and the Women's Leadership Centre in Namibia.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://crd.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/DD-Agenda-Web.pdf |title=Defenders' Days 2022 Agenda |date=October 2022 |publisher=Civil Rights Defenders |pages=8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 April 2019 |title=Re-orienting and strengthening the journey of feminist and transformational leadership at the African Women's Leadership Institute |url=https://www.akinamamawaafrika.org/re-orienting-and-strengthening-the-journey-of-feminist-and-transformational-leadership-at-the-african-womens-leadership-institute/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Akina Mama wa Afrika |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lesbian empowerment programme - Women's Leadership Centre |url=https://www.wlc-namibia.org/projects/lesbian-empowerment-programme |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=www.wlc-namibia.org}}</ref>

She helped found the Coalition of African Lesbians in 2004<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2018-03-07 |title=10 vozes femininas poderosas na luta por direitos iguais pelo mundo |url=https://claudia.abril.com.br/noticias/mulheres-a-frente-da-luta-por-direitos-iguais/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=CLAUDIA |language=pt-BR}}</ref> and became its director in 2010. In 2014, Cavanagh set up the Masakhane programme (Zulu for "Come, let's get stronger together") with the German LSVD to provide better networking and empowerment to lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.partner-religion-development.org/fileadmin/Dateien/Resources/Knowledge_Center/BMZ__2016__More_than_anything.pdf |title=More than anything: The contribution of religious communities and human rights organisations to sustainable development |date=February 2016 |publisher=Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Wie Lesben weltweit sichtbar werden. Vorbild Masakhane Projekt|url=http://www.lsvd-blog.de/?p=10818|accessdate=28 November 2017|work=LSVD|language=de-DE}}</ref>

Cavanagh also worked with AWID.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 July 2012 |title=Ongoing Dilemmas: Religion, Fundamentalisms and Human Rights panel session - 12th AWID Forum |url=https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/ongoing-dilemmas-religion-fundamentalisms-and-human-rights-panel-session-12th |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=AWID}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-20 |title=The Right To Autonomy Over Our Bodies And Loves: The Resolution On Human Rights, Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Furthers Dialogue |url=https://sxpolitics.org/around-the-web-148/9908 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Sexuality Policy Watch |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Marler |first=Isabel |date=26 September 2016 |title=12 Activists Who Will Make You Hopeful For Feminist Futures |url=https://wunrn.com/2016/09/12-activists-who-will-make-you-hopeful-for-feminist-futures/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=WUNRN |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Publications ==

* "Losing the Beijing Agenda in the Sea of 'New Solutions' to HIV and AIDS" (2005), in ''Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cavanagh |first=Dawn |date=2005 |title=Losing the Beijing Agenda in the Sea of 'New Solutions' to HIV and AIDS |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4066563 |journal=Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity |issue=64 |pages=17–20 |jstor=4066563 |issn=1013-0950}}</ref> * ''The OTHER REFLECT: Five Years of Building a Community Foundation with LGBTIQ people in Southern Africa'' External Review (2019) (with Hope Chigudu)<ref>[http://theotherfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SUMMARY-EXTERNAL-REVIEW-REPORT-THE-OTHER-FOUNDATION.pdf The Other Foundation website]</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Dawn}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:South African feminists Category:South African women's rights activists Category:Lesbian feminists Category:South African lesbian writers Category:South African LGBTQ rights activists Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century South African LGBTQ people