Rape in a Patriarchal Culture
While walking around Longmarket, I came across a sign hanging on the side of a Methodist church that said, “Women and men are equal in God’s eyes….so in whose name do men rape?” This publically displayed statement immediately struck me. Undoubtedly it would be deeply controversial if it were hanging on the side of a church in the United States. It was also a stark reminder that rape is such a widespread problem in South Africa. Signs about gender violence and anti-rape campaigns are extremely prevalent politically and culturally.
I remember reading an article earlier in the year on BBC about the “new trend” of raping grandmothers and babies in some rural communities of South Africa. Bernedette Muthien, Executive Director of the organization Engender, informed us that corrective rape of lesbians is also a widespread problem in South Africa. Bernedette also raised the issue of why particular cases of rape in South Africa are reported but other rape incidents are not?
Are South Africans as shocked by their rape culture as me? And I also wonder, at a time when many countries are taking a very critical look at rape after highly publicized cases of gang rape in India (which is now being referred to as the “Delhi moment”)—why aren’t South Africans doing the same? Maybe all of my questions will be answered when we visit the Rape Crisis Center in Cape Town….
I just feel like, there was no better time to rally around the issue of rape and gender violence in South Africa than after the brutal rape and murder of Anene Booysen in early 2013. The case was so horrific and personally hard for me to imagine human beings capable of such hatred and violence. However, the rallying around Booysen’s case seemed to quickly fade.
Lastly, perhaps South Africans are numb to the rape statistics in their country, after years of oppression? Even President Zuma was tried and acquitted of rape in 2006, but not until after the alleged victim was publically shamed.
What would it take (and I am sure most organizations in South Africa wonder the same) to provoke South African’s as a whole, with a similar sense of outrage? What systems could be put in place to change the power structure in many communities? There are perpetuated intersectional issues in the reporting and “importance” of rape cases within South Africa, which is an element of apartheid that still exists. The cause of violence in South Africa is so deeply rooted in its history that it cannot simply be addressed by legislations or policies. Until these structures are broken down, and cultural violence is addressed—gender based violence in South Africa will continue.
For further info on Engender: http://www.engender.org.za