Freedom of What? Protection from Who?


Date: January 1, 1970
  • SHARE:

“It was a Sunday morning when we received the call. One you dread, but almost seems inevitable in South Africa ? a friend?s flat was burgled and she had fended off a sexual assault?? This article relates one woman?s experience, exploring how this is just one example of a culture of disregard for her and other women?s rights and safety. It questions, ?when officials who should be concerned with our nation?s safety tell those who complain about the crime and its repercussions to keep quiet and leave, how can we feel confident in our society?s progress??

It was a Sunday morning when we received the call. One you dread, but almost seems inevitable in South Africa – a friend’s flat was burgled and she had fended off a sexual assault. She sobbed uncontrollably on the phone and continued to do so later in her small flat.  She feared the stress could have caused a miscarriage of her eight-week-old unborn baby. Thankfully, an ultrasound later alleviated those fears.
 
On the same day both the national and local papers reported incidents of rape and no doubt many, many more went untold. In South Africa, and across the region, rape and the abuse of women is endemic. Every rape is deplorable, but what made this incident even more sickening and frustrating was how clearly Rose’s* experience demonstrated a culture of disregard for her and other women’s rights and safety.
 
The first blow was when Rose later found out that the perpetrators had allegedly received the key to her flat from another female resident.  The possibility that a woman would give no thought to a fellow woman’s well-being and safety is indefensible.
 
Rose had been in the bathroom when they broke in, wearing a short nightgown, and no underwear because she was about to jump straight into bed. At first, the robbers announced they were there for cell phones and money. However, seeing her scantily clad, the situation suddenly changed.
 
The ringleader decided her attire was too inviting to ignore.  He calmly informed her that he and his cohorts were going to ‘sleep’ with her. It was almost as if they spoke two different languages.
 
For her, she was facing rape – an unacceptable assault on her womanhood and a threat to her pregnancy. For him it was intercourse negotiated on his terms, like sex should be.  He did not consider his advances ‘rape’.
 
Non-governmental and community-based organisations, activists and others are doing amazing work to impress the fact that a woman’s behaviour and dress can never be responsible for eliciting rape. Despite this, there was little doubt in his mind that she was ‘tempting’ him.  Unlike Rose, he also had little concern for HIV/AIDS.
 
The truth is that too many men would have seen her bare skin as an invitation, thought she was asking for it, failing to connect this forced sexual act with violence or degradation.  She had to beg her attacker to leave, not to hurt her or her unborn child.
 
The police’s response proved to be the last straw. According to Rose, the responding police officer treated her like nothing more than a hysterical woman, a sex object and possible love interest.
 
In Rose’s words, one of the officers said:  “Are you married?” She answered “No!” Then he said, “That is why those (sic) guys wanted to rape you. It’s because you have huge beautiful buttocks and I really like (sic) them.” He told me to learn from other girls who came to study here that if I need security I must fall in love with the police, and if I want to speed up the case I must fall in love with him.”
 
Less than one in nine cases of rape are reported in South Africa. Is that surprising considering those that should be helping assault victims often treat them so callously, frequently causing secondary trauma.
 
This incident seemed to symbolise so many of the struggles that women face: their biological vulnerability to HIV; their struggle to get male members of protection services to approach these crimes with sensitivity and compassion; and the seeming proliferation of apathy and ignorance, especially men’s attitudes towards women and their indifference towards HIV/AIDS.
 
Standing in my friend’s flat putting new deadbolts on the door I didn’t feel as if women’s rights had advanced that far at all. When what you wear, or don’t wear and how you wear it is still considered a point of discussion in rape trials. When officials who should be concerned with our nation’s safety tell those who complain about the crime and its repercussions to keep quiet and leave, how can we feel confident in our society’s progress? 
 
Newspapers recently carried reports of Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula’s stating that those who whinge about crime should consider leaving the country. Maybe he should tell Rose to her face that her safety and her health and her unborn child’s safety are of little importance. He could also mention that if she does not like the fact that she is consistently at risk of being attacked or raped then she is no longer welcome here.
 
Stop whingeing about your personal safety and bodily integrity fellow South Africans. Stop whingeing about your constitutional rights.  Perhaps those in power should stop and think that crime is every single citizen’s concern, and that the women of this country, in particular, are still receiving the short end of the democratic stick. We are not being protected. We are not being given any choices. Maybe all the whiny women should leave because our continued “negativity” and concern over violence and sexual abuse is not conducive to improving the state of this nation?
 
* Not her real name
 
Bobby van der Merwe is a freelance editor and journalist. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service that provides fresh views on everyday news.


Comment on Freedom of What? Protection from Who?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *