South African Rape Protests

Following with the trend in New Delhi, South Africa is now joining the countries that are standing up against rape. 

According to Thedailybeast.com, about a week ago 17-year-old “Anene Booysen was brutally gang raped. Her throat was slit; her fingers and legs shattered. The attackers had stuck a broken glass bottle inside her body and left her for dead on a construction site in the small, quiet Southern Cape town of Bredasdorp, about 120 miles from Cape Town. A security guard found her near lifeless body. She identified and named at least one of the alleged rapists, but died soon thereafter.”

To give you some statistics on the country, "Medical Research Council estimates that up to 3,600 rapes happen daily in this nation of close to 52 million people. This places South Africa among the countries with the highest incidences of rape worldwide and, outside of war zones, makes it one of the most violent societies, especially towards women." The radio has even decided to bring extra awareness by playing a beep on  Primedia's four radio stations for 12 hours today, every four minutes to symbolize the number of rapes taking place in South Africa each day."

This horrifying story much like the one in New Delhi has propelled people into action. Reports of radio talk shows, news, and other media outlets have been giving the most voice to this injustice. Encouraging words like these from Eusebius McKaiser give me hope during such dark times: 

“I’ve lost count of the number of stories listeners have shared with me on my daily chat show on Talk Radio 702. One married man is grappling with the memory of a woman who molested him when he was very young. She was his mother’s friend. Another man stopped his car while driving to call in to the show and publicly, for the first time, talk about criminals who had hijacked him years ago but only drove off with his car after gang-raping him.
 Throughout the day on Friday, the media created a space on social media platforms, in the newspapers and on the airwaves for South Africans to share their stories of being victims and survivors of rape. Every group is affected: girls and boys, women and men, old and young, rich and poor, black and white.”

Reports of several officials and even criminals alike are standing up and speaking out too, each with their own interpretation on how we, as a society, can help prevent these attacks and essentially change the world.

“President Jacob Zuma released an unusually emotional statement on Thursday, calling the attack on Booysen “inhumane”.   

“This act is shocking, cruel and most inhumane. It has no place in our country. We must never allow ourselves to get used to these acts of base criminality to our women and children,” the presidency's statement read.   

A senior executive at Soul City, Dr Sue Goldstein, said rape could not be tolerated in the public sphere or media.  

“It’s not about how we sexualise, but how we demean women in the media.”  

While rights and gender activist Lisa Vetten has urged men to stop venting their rage and resentment on women.  

“Because woman, I think, occupy an inferior status still in South Africa; they are an appropriate vehicle in which they (men) can displace their rage, their resentment and their sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction with life.”  

Vetten said women needed to be empowered in society.  

Convicted bank robber and member of the Stander gang, Allan Heyl, has meanwhile said existing laws must be enforced.  

"It’s almost a call to arms. I think enough is enough.”

Despite the horrible circumstances that opened people up to talk I’m glad that real dialogue, real anger, real fighting for a better, safer, future can no begin in these countries because the silence is finally being broken.

More info about the protests:

http://ewn.co.za/2013/02/08/When-will-S-Africans-stand-up-against-rape

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/10/south-africa-rallies-against-fatal-gang-rape.html

http://african.howzit.msn.com/Africa-Gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=253378079&page=5

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Update 12/31/12 – New Delhi Rape Protests

The woman now known as "India's daughter" as of yesterday has died. It has also now come out that she was on the bus with her fiancé when they were both brutally attacked.

"She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore said in a statement announcing her death from multiple organ failure. Media said a rod was used in the rape, causing internal injuries. The fiancé survived.

Reports of up to one thousand people gathered at two locations, demanding justice and the death the rapists. Being the charges have now upgraded to murder, they now will now inevitably will face the death penalty; For now they are just being held awaiting trial.

"For some reason, and I don't really know why, she got through to us," well-known columnist Nilanjana Roy wrote in a blog on Saturday. 

"Our words shriveled in the face of what she'd been subjected to by the six men travelling on that bus, who spent an hour torturing and raping her, savagely beating up her male friend."

Several people have stepped forward to make statements, all saying that her death will not be in vain. Protesters carried posters reading: "She is not with us but her story must awaken us."

Sonia Gandhi, the powerful leader of the ruling Congress party, directly addressed the protesters in a rare broadcast on state television, saying that as a mother and a woman she understood their grievances. 

"Your voice has been heard," Gandhi said. "It deepens our determination to battle the pervasive and the shameful social attitudes that allow men to rape and molest women with such impunity."

I pray not only for India, but for all women who have suffered from such abuse. Please remember that there are people that will stand behind you. These people are placing the first steps towards changes, justice, and help for all of you. Stay Strong.

More info about the protests:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/12/2012123015432890252.html

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/india-protests-violence-against-women-slideshow/demonstrators-shout-slogans-jump-over-police-barricade-seized-photo-103453675.html

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New Delhi Rape Protests

Something is actually being done about rape? No way! Yes my friends today in New Delhi protest are continuing to rage in wake of a 23 year old raped student. For those who don’t keep up with the news on December 16 a 23 year old student was gang-raped and beaten with an iron rod, before being thrown from a moving bus. The police immediately arrested several suspects, who are now awaiting trial. What does this have to do with protests? In the last couple of weeks protesters have been gathering, demanding a speedy trial with death penalty. The rape victim at this point in time is still in extremely critical condition and as of today has been airlifted to Singapore for a specialist hospital.

According to Dr. Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of the Singapore hospital had this to say,

"Prior to her arrival, she has already undergone three abdominal surgeries, and experienced a cardiac arrest in India. A multi-disciplinary team of specialists is taking care of her and doing everything possible to stabilize her condition."

To understand the point of the protest you need to know a little background.  Satarupa Bhattacharjya reports that.

 “New Delhi has the highest number of sex attacks among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to the National Crimes Records Bureau.
Most rapes and other sex crimes go unreported and offenders are rarely punished, but the brutality of the assault on the medical student in New Delhi triggered public outrage, demands for both better policing and harsher punishment for rapists.”

 Though I agree those statistics sound pretty harsh, I’m not sure the death penalty is the way to go. I am, however, astonished at the amount of support, hope and healing these protestors are offering for this victim, unfortunately though some of protests have gotten to out of hand. Subhash Chand Tomar, a 47-year-old Delhi police constable, died from injuries received during the protest.

“The outcry and spasm of violent protests over the case caught Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government off guard and set off a blame game between politicians and the police.Singh digressed in a speech on economic planning on Thursday to stress that the safety and security of women was a priority issue for his government, and said there would be a review of the laws and levels of punishment for aggravated sexual assault. 

But within an hour of that meeting, his Congress party was plunged into embarrassment over comments made by one of its lawmakers, Abhijit Mukherjee, son of the country's president.
Mukherjee described the anti-rape demonstrations as a "pink revolution" by women wearing heavy make-up who think it is fashionable to protest.” Reported Bhattacharjya.

Though there will always be people who view rape as “not a big deal” I am extremely encouraged by both the police efforts and response from the people. It gives me hope that rape will no longer be swept under the rug, but face and dealt with openly. I wonder how the victim will feel once she recovers and finds out a whole city supporting her and demanding justice for her? Let us hope that such healing can spread to others parts of the world that continue to suffer from the ignorance of rape.

More info about the protests:

http://www.ibtimes.com/policeman-injured-new-delhi-gang-rape-protest-dies-967560

http://news.yahoo.com/india-rape-protests-fizzle-victim-airlifted-singapore-124855031.html

http://world.time.com/2012/12/26/india-after-new-delhi-gangrape-should-the-culprits-be-executed/

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