On behalf of the Board of the Foundation for Human Rights, it is with great pleasure that I am able to present the findings of this Baseline Survey on awareness of, attitude and access to Constitutional Rights.

Previous studies found that South African citizens had a relatively poor understanding of the Bill of Rights, but we felt it necessary to carry out a study that focused on the specific understanding by vulnerable and marginalised members of society of their justiciable socio-economic rights.

The team surveyed 20 sites and interviewed 4,200 respondents from farming communities, from poor communities in rural and urban areas, from members of LGBTI communities, and from migrant communities.

The result of the study tells us that there is much work to be done. Those most in need have a poorer understanding of their rights and face more challenges to access the mechanisms of redress that are available to them.

As a result of these findings, the Foundation has initiated a second survey to build on this work, by expanding the sample size to ensure that it is representative of the nation as a whole.

This research will guide the work of the Foundation to assist vulnerable and marginalised citizens with a better understanding of their rights and give them the tools they need to assert their rightful claims to socio-economic justice.

I would like to give special thanks to Dr Zaid Kimmie for the execution of the survey and the analysis of the results, and to the team at the FHR for producing this report.

Continue reading below or download the full “Report of the AJPCR Baseline Survey on Awareness of, Attitude and Access to Constitutional Rights” resource.