We have begged. We have cried. We have pleaded. All we have left is our anger.
While it feels as if we’ve made progress highlighting the right of women and girls to live free from abuse — there is no denying that we are still navigating a national crisis.
This is why I am angry. There were 90,000 live births reported by the department of social development, turning children between the ages of 10 and 19 into mothers. Most of these are from statutory rape.
I am angry because 35% of women and girls over the age of 15 have experienced physical violence at home, in public or at work. I am angry because the department of health has “run out of condoms”, which will result in more pregnancies.
Women cannot do it alone. Patriarchy is a system of oppression that ultimately imprisons us all. We are all responsible for its dismantlement but as its primary beneficiaries, men have the greatest responsibility to question and change their thinking and actions, as well as those of other men.
Though minister of police Bheki Cele has promised that the DNA analysis backlog will be cleared by the end of January 2023, I know it will not happen. If we treated rape with the same urgency with which we treated the pandemic, we would have made substantial progress in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV).
Abuse knows no nationality, race, ethnicity, class, income level, religion, migration status, disability, sexual orientation, age or occupation.
However, as the most fundamental expression of the unequal power dynamics between men and women, GBV, which also affects men who do not conform to gender stereotypes or roles, hits the most marginalised individuals in society the hardest.
Structural poverty combined with systematic racism means that racialised women everywhere are vulnerable to violence and harassment.
I’m angry because nearly half of all women killed in 2021 lost their lives at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member, which equals seven women a day in South Africa.
I am angry that for all the attention by social media hashtags, the perpetrators of violence rarely face prosecution, even when the people involved are famous.
Yes, high-profile careers have ended and reputations have been damaged but what about justice? There’s plenty more cause for fury.
Look at the hundreds of girls of primary-school age who will never have the opportunity to learn how to read or write due to pregnancy from rape.
For every woman who has shared her story on social media, there are thousands more for whom silence was the only option. Every day we see more women bravely stepping forward to share their stories
Working women across South Africa are undervalued, underpaid and engaged in unpaid care work in their homes.
In South Africa female human rights defenders as well as whistleblowers are targeted for standing up for gender equality, land rights, racial justice, economic justice, labour rights, LGBTQI rights, the environment, a free press, peace and dignity.
Victims face slurs, shame, loss of income, more violence and even loss of life.
For every woman who has shared her story on social media, there are thousands more for whom silence was the only option. Every day we see more women bravely stepping forward to share their stories.
The problem of violence against women isn’t personal, it’s structural. It draws from a deep well of patriarchy that’s further tainted by a global economic model that commodifies the exploitation of women’s labour while eroding the rights and protections of all workers. We have a right to live free from violence, abuse and harassment.
As we launch the 16 Days of Activism against GBV, we need to focus on supporting the grassroots activists, community-based organisations, journalists, academics, trade unions, NGOs and social movements who were doing this work before the hashtags started trending and will continue doing it long after they stop.
Their work needs to be well-funded and widely supported but it also requires the proper legal framework.
That’s why the proposed International Labour Organization (ILO) instrument on violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work is so important. There are 189 ILO conventions setting out basic principles and rights at work; not one focuses on GBV.
South Africa has excellent laws, unlike most countries that do not have adequate legislation to prevent GBV in the world of work. We are angry. We have some of the best laws in the world, yet we have one of the worst crime statistics in the world. I feel angry because GBV is framed as a women’s issue.
It is a South African issue.
This is a watershed moment in the fight. We are looking for the political will to bolster the collective action and anger that could usher in the peace, justice and equality we all deserve.
• Glennie is the founder of the TEARS (Transform Education About Rape and Sexual Abuse) foundation. If you or someone you know has been raped or abused, dial *134*7355# (free) or 010-590-5920 (24/7).
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