The maximum sentence for femicide is only half the maximum sentence for fraud, yet 1 400 women die every year because they are murdered by their intimate partners. Powa brought this to our attention earlier this year with their video showing how people would respond to loud drums late at night, but they would not respond […]
Gender violence
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Rape culture — bad for you, bad for me, bad for everyone
I would argue that most South Africans have endured rape culture which allows violence to persist with little resistance. It’s undeniable that things aren’t right in South Africa when it comes to sexual violence. Last year’s crime stats show 68 332 reported “sexual offences” and this doesn’t account for the many offences which aren’t reported. There […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
16 days of activism: Are we there yet?
Every year Women’s Day, Women’s Month and the 16 Days of Activism roll around and we hear some really great speeches from those in power. Every year, as these events tick by we see NGOs around the country rallying their troops to march, educate, inform and assist. Why? What are these days even about? Do […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Statutory rape screws the Jules case over
Hearing that the girl who was allegedly drugged, then gang raped, while being filmed by her peers had now been charged with statutory rape alongside her alleged rapists, I almost gave up hope. But then I realised that the sheer scale of this injustice is important because it will hopefully rally us to demand justice. […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
A Zambian embarrassment at the Victim Empowerment Conference
I have had the fortune (or misfortune … I’m not quite sure yet) to be at the International Conference on Victim Empowerment this week. We began yesterday with 12 hours of travelling, no food and shower that I had to run circles in to get wet and I had hoped that today would be better. […]
Posted inGender violence, Lifestyle
The noises next door
Every year 1 400 women are killed by their partners, and maybe we were listening. If your neighbour plays music really loud on a week night, do you go over and ask them to keep it down? If they start banging their drums at 9pm in a residential area, do you think you should ask them […]
Posted inGender violence
Do you have to say NO for it to be rape?
I was talking with some family members a while back about rape and something scary became apparent. Most people think that there is a grey area between yes and no, and that sometimes even when you say no, people are still sympathetic to the person who continues to have sex with you anyway. We were […]
Posted inGender violence, Lifestyle
Is rape something we can joke about?
I was watching Ricky Gervais’ Fame tour last night and about 30 minutes in he starts joking about rape. In the skit he asks “what sort of society has to remind people not to rape?” It’s referring to an advertisement that emphasises consent in sexual encounters. Instead of this being an insight into how much […]
Posted inGender violence
Raped by ‘consent’
When you define rape as occuring when someone does not consent to sex, instead of when coercive circumstances are involved, you enter a minefield of confusion and definition that is extremely harmful to the rape survivor.
Posted inGender violence
Rape — sex or power?
Rape happens every day in South Africa. It is estimated that each year about half a million rapes occur, but only 1 in 9 of these is reported. With roughly 24 million women in South Africa this presents women with a scary picture. It means that if you are a woman and you live to the […]
Posted inGender violence
Why women say no to sex
I had a horrible flashback yesterday of this terrible sociology course that I took while at university. The course material and lecturer were stimulating enough, and the course was focused on gender, so it was really right up my alley. However, each session my temperature and the acerbity of my tone would slowly rise as […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Legalise prostitution now!
Sexual favours for a price. On the side of the road. Down an alley. In your car. In your hotel room. In your house. On the corner. Wherever it is, it’s likely to be unsafe for the sex worker. Why? You might refuse to use condoms and risk exposing him or her to sexually transmitted […]