Silent protest breaks the silence on sexual abuse

by | Aug 20, 2015 | News

Wits students took a stand against sexual violence Wednesday, showing solidarity for survivors and raising awareness.

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Witsies marched in solidarity at the Wits silent protest on Wednesday, lead by the organisers. Photo: Valerie Robinson.

 

Sexual abuse, violence and rape is something that is a reality. The person sitting next to you in class could be a victim or a perpetrator. This week’s silent protest took a stand to break the cycle of silence.

A 3rd Year Law student speaking to WitsVuvuzela told how she was raped at a party in March this year. The person was not a stranger but rather one of her boyfriend’s friends. “I am doing this to break the cycle. Knowing I have a voice, and other women have a voice” she said.

One of the major issues the protest dealt with is the ‘shaming’ that takes place, when the victim might want to report it.

The student said when she reported it to the police their response was, because there was alcohol involved it simply comes down to her word against his.

A second Wits honours student also told her story of Sexual abuse. She was subject to sexual abuse by someone very close to her over an extended period of time. The abuse began when she was just 11 years old.

Unlike the first student she did not report the incident to the authorities. She said she was too ashamed and insecure to be able to talk about it.

Neither of the students sought any type of counselling.  Bertrand Leopeng, an event organiser and an intern psychologist working at the CCDU said that they are starting a rape survivors group at the CCDU in order to accommodate students who require it.

The dean of students, Dr Pamela Dube, addressed the crowd at the start of the march, on Wednesday.

Reading a letter from one of the founders of the protest she said, “The testimony by survivors is eerily similar, whether it comes from a second year Wits student, or from a 70 year old Umlazi pensioner. All the stories speak of fear, of shame, of hopelessness. Very few of the stories feature the police, hardly any end with jail time for the perpetrators.”

Panel tackles customary law and traditional leadership

by | Jul 22, 2014 | News

A discussion on property rights and traditional leadership turned its attention to the impact of customary law on local communities and women in particular.

Hosted by Wiser at Wits University on Monday afternoon, the panel discussion was part of the Public Positions on History and Politics series.

Director of the Rural Women’s Action Project (RWAR) Dr Aninka Claassens presented a paper which highlighted the negative impact of customary law on women.

She said these laws deny women their right to claim land because the law was formed pre-1994 in favour of a patriarchal system. According to Claassens, official customary laws deny ordinary citizens the right to exercise their democratic rights.

She told Wits Vuvuzela that these customary laws have serious repercussions on democratic rights for people in rural areas because they have to pay an annual tribal levy to show allegiance to their tribe.

“If you do not pay an annual tribal levy, you won’t get a proof of address letter from the chief and if you don’t have that you can’t get a child support grant, you can’t get an ID book,” Claassens said.

She said the situation is worsening with “people being forced to pretend to pay allegiance just to practice their rights as ordinary citizens.”

Gender activist, Nomboniso Gasa, from University of Cape Town, also weighed in on the customary law debate.

“… Government cannot say that because you live in Cofimvaba that this version of customary law must apply to you,” she said.

She continued to say that although she originally comes from Cofimvaba, a small remote area in the Eastern Cape, she thinks she should not be forced to obey certain customary laws.

Gavin Capps, from Society, Work and Development Institute at Wits, said living custom, which is not written in statute is not necessarily a bad thing but official customary laws underestimate democratic forms of decision-making.

However, he said, defining culture and deciding what part of it could be practised is a complex issue which cannot easily contested or changed.

“The point being then is the struggle over who defines culture, tradition and customary law and this has been an ongoing struggle ever since the project begun,” he said.

No quick-fix: NGOs provide little relief for women in India

by | May 13, 2014 | News

SAVING WOMEN: Dr Srila Roy, criticises the work of NGOs in India which fail to provide viable solutions to the problems faced by marginalised women. Photo: Bongiwe Tutu

SAVING WOMEN: Dr Srila Roy, criticises the work of NGOs in India which fail to provide viable solutions to the problems faced by marginalised women.                    PHOTO: Bongiwe Tutu

 

Marginalised Indian women are not likely to improve their lives through the intervention of NGOs (non-governmental organisations).

This is in the opinion of Dr Srila Roy who spoke at a seminar entitled ‘Saving Women from Themselves’, held this afternoon at Wits University.

Roy, Wits Sociology senior lecturer, reflected on her experiences at an event in Eastern India at the end of 2011, which was hosted by an NGO protecting young women from coerced marriages.

Women’s rights

6000 women from 40 villages were involved in the event but while the NGO was encouraging girls to go to school, they were not concerned with the state of the schooling system.

“The NGOs constantly say ‘send your girls to school. Young girls must no longer be coerced into marriage, they must go to school’, But when I asked them how the schools are, they said to me; there is nothing there.”

“It’s either the NGOs were disingenuous or really removed from their context” 

Roy said that the schools are poorly resourced, there is a lack of teachers, poor infrastructure and  high expenses which are unaffordable to the students. “So what exactly are they going there to do if they’re not learning?” she asked.

“It’s either the NGOs were disingenuous or really removed from their context,” Roy said.

The problem is that few or no NGOs focus on women’s education and literacy, she explained. The reason behind this was because Indian NGOs are micro-financed and focused on economic development.

The NGOs are getting small loans to start businesses and the goal is to generate more money.

“NGOs just want a quick fix,” Roy said.

The market therefore becomes the criteria, and having objectives such as educating young children would not generate any money for them as such, she explained.

The seminar discussions soon turned from India to the South African context.

South African women

A young South African Muslim woman and a Wits student said she could relate to the experiences of young Indian women.

She that of a group of 12 South African girls of Indian descent in her Polokwane matric class, she is the only one that has not yet married.

But she still believes that it is important not generalise: “We can’t assume by educating women they won’t choose to get married at a young age … a number of educated people make ‘morally unsound’ decisions,” she said.

“Education is only one of the solutions” she added.