Dawn Cavanagh


Dawn Cavanagh is an activist, feminist and freelancer working on social justice projects and development in local communities and in regional and international spaces.

Career

Dawn Cavanagh was born on 23 March 1962. She attended Fairvale Senior Secondary School, Wentworth, KwaZulu-Natal and graduated from the University of Natal with a bachelor of science degre in social work in 1982. She received a bachelor of arts degree in social work from the University of South Africa in 1996 and is currently studying for a master's degree in development studies from the University of Natal. cavanagh has worked for the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, the first black lesbian rights organisation in South Africa, and Oxfam.
Cavanagh is active in South Africa in the fields of equal access to healthcare, HIV/Aids activism, women's rights, sexual rights and reproductive rights. She helped to found the Coalition of African Lesbians in 2004 and became director in 2010. Cavanagh set up the Masakhane programme with the German LSVD to provide better networking and empowerment to lesbian, bisexual and trans women in sub-Saharan Africa.