Ntlotleng Mabena
Dr. Ntlotleng Mabena is Chief Operations Officer, surgeon, and clinician at the Centre for HIV and AIDS Prevention Studies (CHAPS) in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she plays an important role on the organization’s executive team to ensure efficient client services as well as guide the center’s board and strategic planning. A key technical advisor on establishing high volume medical male circumcision (MMC) clinics in various South African provinces, Dr. Mabena also advises other countries in Africa embarking on medical male circumcision activities and acts as liaison to relevant stakeholders including Departments of Health.
Beyond her extensive work in HIV prevention, Ntlotleng is involved in Reproductive Rights and Lesbian Rights campaigns, and she recently started a self-funded program to support lesbians who are victims of sexual violence and other hate crimes. On a recent U.S. Department of State International Visitors Leadership Program on global women's health, she raised the voice and plight of LGBT people in Africa, particularly lesbians who are attacked in the name of 'corrective rape' and the many discordant lesbian couples as a result. She calls for better, safer sex messages to women who have sex with women, including awareness of female to female HIV transmission. In service to the community, she is on the boards of Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), an organization that addresses lesbian rights in South Africa, and The Mothertongue, a collective of artists with a focus on art and dance therapy.