Women’s Day in the rape capital of the world

By Humairaa Mayet

Edited by Imaan Moosa

Today, South Africa ‘celebrates’ Women’s Day. But how can we celebrate women in the rape capital of the world, in a country which views the bodies and lives of women as expendable and insignificant?

‘Happy Women’s Month’ we say to one another in South Africa, in blissful ignorance of the 41 695 cases of rape reported over the course of the past year. That equates to approximately 114 cases of rape reported every single day. Let us not forget that it is estimated that only 1 in 9 rapes are reported. Thus, the actual number of women raped in the last year could approximately be 375 255, a staggering figure.

The bleak state of the nation

Women in South Africa face some of the highest rates of violence in the world. Gender-based violence is always on the rise, with domestic abuse, assault, and rape rates outranking those of other countries. The South African Police often do not assist women who have been subjected to gender-based violence. Largely male in dimension, the police force is quick to dismiss these cases. At other times, the police themselves violate women in a way similar to the one they seek to report. There are multiple cases where police officers have raped and assaulted women, sometimes within the walls of the police precinct.

Image: The Conversation

Minister of Police, Bheki Cele has done little to reform the police force when it comes to taking reports from women. In an extremely controversial statement – on the first day of Women’s Month, no less – Cele brashly said that a 19-year-old woman who had been raped was “lucky” because she had been raped once and not multiple times like other women in South Africa. If the Minister views crimes against women as insignificant, how can we expect anything different from his police force?

This year, Women’s Month has been darkened by Cele’s remarks, which serve as a reminder of the many trials and tribulations women must face on a daily basis in South Africa.

Image: Keep the Energy

We have only recently come out of multiple coronavirus lockdowns which saw many women endure extreme violence at the hands of men in their households. Now, in the aftermath of these lockdowns, South Africans face extreme economic strife with unemployment rates climbing higher than ever. Men often take out their financial frustrations on their female counterparts.

Women’s Month was once a celebration

For centuries around the world, women have been treated as inferior to men and this has manifested in various ways, all of them causing harm to women. We live in a patriarchal world and although it must be acknowledged that the tentacles of the patriarchy are not as powerful as they used to be, they are still present in most – if not all – societies and communities around the world.

In apartheid South Africa, on top of being discriminated against because of their race, women of colour were also discriminated against because of their gender. The white ruling class appeared to have more respect for non-white men than non-white women. Moreover, women of colour had to overcome hurdles in their own communities, solely because they were women.

Image: The Incidental Tourist

On 9 August 1956, 20 000 women of all ages, classes and races marched to the Union Buildings in Tshwane (Pretoria), protesting against pass laws that were to be imposed upon black women by J.G. Strijdom, the Prime Minister of South Africa. The protest was led by four women who sought to represent each major racial group and show that they were all in unity with one another. Lillian Ngoyi, Sophia Williams, Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph led the protestors as they peacefully chanted, “Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo” (you strike a woman, you strike a rock). This later became a rallying cry for women across the country and is still chanted today.

This event shaped the trajectory not only of the lives of South African women but that of South Africa in its entirety. Now, 66 years later, we must take a long and hard look at the country that these thousands of women fought for. One cannot deny the remarkable strides that have been made. South Africa has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, and it is unfortunate that not much of it is put into practice, despite the fact that all of it has been codified.

Image: People’s Dispatch

Women’s Month, and Women’s Day, once heralded a celebration of women. They were praised and applauded for all that they did and all that they stood for. Now, Women’s Month – and all the days in it – appear to go past like the others and women are treated as inferior to men, just as in the past, ridding the country of years of process.

Is all hope lost?

No, all hope is not lost.

Although it may appear that South Africa is so far gone that there is no retribution for this country, let alone the women in it, that is not the case. We must have hope.

Image: The Guardian

We, as women, must raise our voices and fight for our rights and above all else, our equal treatment. We must raise our voices and fight for an end to domestic abuse, rape and femicide. We must raise our voices and call for reform and revolution and the eradication of gender-based violence in our country.

This Women’s Month we must channel the spirits of Ngoyi, Williams, Moosa and Joseph, and all the powerful women who came before us and chant, “Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo” just as they did.

Image: SABC

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References:

• No cause to celebrate Women’s Day amid continued GBV, femicide, say activists

• 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

• International Women’s Day 2022: Cheap Talk, Empty Promises