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Why are South Africa’s Women Only Just Getting the Attention They Deserve?

Jaymi McCann

Following this week’s coverage of corrective rape in South Africa, I can’t help but ask why it has taken the world’s media so long to catch on?

South Africa features some of the highest numbers of rape in the world and a survey over 2 years ago showed that one in four men freely admit raping at least one woman.

It is also true that the cautionary rule that requires judges to ere on the side of caution when trying a rapist was only abolished in 2007, while the distribution of HIV treatment is still conditional on the victim reporting her attack.

So I ask again. Why has it taken so long for the world’s media to pick up on this?

The progress that this country has achieved in a short time is clearly commendable. They managed a smooth transition from apartheid to democracy with a relative lack of violence. They established a rule of law, democratic elections, a bill of rights, and signed an unprecedented 70 international treaties and agreements in just six years.

From a western perspective South Africa is a shining example of what a successful democracy can look like in a continent fraught with poverty and corruption.

But, it takes more than a lick of paint to cover what are deeply embedded cultural attitudes towards women.

Rape in many areas of society is not treated with the gravitas it deserves. It is considered a normal thing, the result of the natural balance of power between men and women. But by associating rape with an everyday occurrence, the stigma of violence is taken away from it.

Excuses such as ‘she was dressed like a slut’, or ‘she was asking for it’ are all too common. Never mind the mind-boggling idea that rape will turn a lesbian straight, or show her what she is missing.

Technically, rape and sexual assault are outlawed by law. Women’s rights are enshrined in the constitution but evidence shows that enforcement and the implementation of these rights on the ground is shoddy at best.

A 2010 inspection of 430 police stations across the country showed that many were failing to reach fulfil their legal obligations towards women with regard to domestic violence, and a worrying number of police were accused to ignoring, and turning complainants away.

To some, women’s issues are not political. They are seen as private issues, to be dealt with at home. This reduces their importance, reduces the impact that rape can have on a woman. It ignores the fact that rape is not about sex, it is about power and the complete elimination of a human’s right to possess her own sexuality.

Power is the key to reform, both in society and institutionally. Female South African politician Frene Ginwala said, “Politics is about power and women’s liberation is about power. Until we empower women organisationally, we cannot empower ourselves.”

This is what women in South Africa are starting to do. Following the rape of several young girls in Johannesburg due to their ‘disrespectful clothing’ a few years ago, local charities encouraged women to protest. Hoards took to the streets, with placards declaring female independence and in doing so they highlighted the lack of action from the local government and police. The protest forced the government to condemn the action effectively transforming the issue into a political one in the eyes of the public.

Another example is Luleke Sizwe, an organisation fighting against corrective rape, who started an online petition for a change in policy towards the issue. They gained 170,000 signatures in just four months, and are now in discussions with the Justice minister to have law changed so that corrective rape is treated as a hate crime, and therefore punishable by the harshest sentences. They worked with a few volunteers and little media coverage. Without the internet, their cause would have been ignored. These causes are clearly under-reported.

South Africa is a country in progress. Rather than only covering these issues when an alarming survey is published or a foreign national is involved, I would rather that its inspiring people received the publicity they deserve and so desperately need.

Jaymi McCann

laswegian freelance journalist living in London studying the MA in Newspaper Journalism

Follow Jaymi McCann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jaymi_McCann

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International Women’s Day and Egypt’s 25 January Revolution: What Do the Women Stand to Gain From Their Struggle?

Will process result in any tangible gains for the majority of  women who participated fully in the struggle?

Egyptian women in the recent uprising

International Women’s Day is observed each year on the 8th of March since the 1900s. This year’s commemoration happens just weeks after the women of North Africa and the Middle East courageously, and alongside their male counterparts, participated fully in the struggle for freedom, equality, democracy, participatory governance and justice in their own respective countries. They participated as equals, were exposed to the same cruel conditions as male participants, suffered the same consequences as everyone else and did not seek any special treatment but change with equal opportunities for all. The question worth asking at this stage is:

  • will their full participation during the revolution result in their full involvement and representation in the structures that are currently deliberating the future of their countries?
  • or will they be marginalised and pushed back to their ‘traditional’ roles in society?

Commenting on South Africa’s situation, Sheila Meintjies notes the significant role that SA women played in the fight against apartheid but asks “how would this participation be translated into electoral politics and representative democracy?

  • Would women’s presence be reflected in political and material gains for women in society?”

These questions remain relevant in light of the disturbing developments in Egypt. The brutal and sexual assault on CBS reporter Lara Logan during the uprisings is again a  stark reminder of the challenges that women still faces since the first celebration of Women’s Day in 1911.

The reality for Egyptian women at present is that they have been completely marginalised in the nation building process with very few of them having been appointed to serve in structures tasked with deciding the country’s future. The complete absence of women in the Constitutional Committee amending Egypt’s constitution makes mockery of the January 25 revolution which was moulded around the ideals of equality; freedom and the involvement of all citizens in decisions affecting their lives.  Women organisations and other movements like the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights and the Egyptian Coalition for Civic Education and Women’s Participation have already raised concerns over these developments. A few weeks back, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights circulated a petition which raised concerns over the exclusive nature of the Constitutional committee. The Egyptian Coalition consisting of around 102 NGO’s also issued a statement condemning the amendments to the Constitution which will make men the only candidates eligible for appointment to the position of the President.

Countries who have undergone Egypt’s journey in recent years would know of the necessity to have constitutions that best represent the aspirations and dreams of all citizens. In order for Egypt’s constitution to be legitimate, the process of making it must be inclusive and speak to the diversity of views and needs of its entire people and be highly considerate of women’s issues and concerns. South Africa’s Constitution which is regarded as the best in the world is a direct product of processes which never fell short of seeking to encompass the multiplicity of views within the nation. As a result, South Africa’s Constitution guarantees women’s rights; and affords equal treatment of all people irrespective of gender, sex, race, religion, belief, culture and so on. Egypt can also learn from the constitutions of countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Iraq and Nepal which guarantees women’s rights and political rights.

No one denies that different conditions exist in all countries, however, the rights of all people including women transcend boundaries. The importance of these rights also find expression in the Convention on All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Beijing Platform for Action, the Protocol to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of women in Africa; and  the Millennium Development Goals. It is no secret that Egyptian women have a lot of challenges to deal with and these challenges are openly discussed in various reports by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights on the status of Egyptian women. These reports speak to the needs for the strengthening of laws on sexual harassment, rape, women’s health and reproductive rights, domestic violence, honor crimes, female circumcision, human trafficking of women as sex workers, divorce laws,  inheritance laws, ownership and property rights. In light of these challenges it is clear that it can only be through participating fully in the Constitution making process and other structures building Egypt that women of that country can best ensure that the future holds a better and brighter life for Egypt’s daughters and mothers.

As the deliberations continue women should hang on to the revolution spirit and ensure that it delivers for them as well. Egypt’s revolution would be half achieved if it does not speak to the needs, dreams, and aspirations of all the people who made it possible.

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