GreaterGood South Africa

Reflections on 16 Days of Activism
Monday, November 2nd 2009

Senior writer at GreaterGood SA, Jill Sloan, reflects on the movement on violence against women over the past twenty years and key highlights of this year's 16 Days of Activism campaign.

Exactly twenty years ago, I took up the job of co-ordinator at the Rape Crisis Shelter for Battered Women in Cape Town. At the time, it was one of only two such safe houses in the country. We housed an average of ten women and their children. Times were hard. Each woman and her children shared a room with two other families. The women were bound to secrecy about the location of the shelter and often too scared to even leave the building. Few of them received any regular source of income.

We ran the shelter on a shoestring budget, neglecting maintenance in favour of weekly stipends for each woman. All the furniture was rickety, broken or extremely ugly. Sometimes we received food donations from Woolworths or clothing from the Anglican Church. At the time, there was not one organisation of men campaigning against violence against women. The media barely spoke of domestic violence or child abuse.

What has improved?

When I look at the landscape in South Africa now, I am inspired and encouraged by the extent to which the support net for women and children undergoing abuse has increased.

Here are some examples of how the situation has improved:

• A state-funded, national victim empowerment strategy is in place, spearheaded by the Department of Social Development and the SAPS.
• Police have been trained in how to work with survivors of sexual and domestic violence appropriately.
• There is a national shelter movement and improved protection for survivors of domestic and child abuse.
• The Sexual Offences Act provides for a broader definition of rape.
• A myriad of hard-working non profit organisations work at grassroots level to support women and children in need.
• The life skills curriculum in schools is one of the many avenues for using the excellent materials which have been developed for education to prevent violence against women and children.
• More than one national organisation has been set up to work specifically with men on education around sexual and domestic violence, as well as their interface with socialisation, gender stereotyping and HIV/AIDS.
• Recent police statistics show a slow decrease in the number of reported crimes against children and women.

These are indicators of the gains which form a living tribute to the tireless insistence of community activists that violence against women and children cannot be ignored, tolerated or excused.

Research on rape

Despite much better access to a range of supportive services, many women and children are still not reporting such crimes to the police. We may have won the battle but we are certainly still losing the war.

This is clearly shown in the results of a study on rape, carried out by the Medical Research Council and released in June this year. The research analysed the responses of 1,738 men in the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal.

The study reported the following:

• 27.6% of the men interviewed said they had raped a woman or girl
• 73% of those who had committed rape, had carried out their first assault before the age of 20
• One in twenty of the men interviewed had raped in the past year
• Nearly half of those who had carried out a rape said they had done so more than once

The results are widely believed to provide an excellent picture of what is happening across the country.

Professor Rachel Jewkes of the MRC, who carried out the research, explained the findings of the research in this way: "We have a very, very high prevalence of rape in South Africa. I think it is down to ideas about masculinity based on gender hierarchy and the sexual entitlement of men. It's rooted in an African ideal of manhood." (Source: Mail and Guardian; 18 June 2009: MRC: Quarter of men in SA admit rape).

This is one of the many reasons why the annual campaign of 16 Days of Activism remains relevant and critical.

What is the 16 Days of Activism about?

This global campaign focuses on ending gender violence and has been running in South Africa since 1998. It starts each year on 25 November, International Day Against Violence Against Women and ends on 10 December, International Human Rights Day. It also includes a focus on ending violence against children.

What is happening this year?

Over these sixteen days, NPOs, government, the corporate sector and individuals across South Africa will harness their united energy to echo the international slogan for this year's campaign:

Commit - Act - Demand: We CAN End Violence Against Women!

Details on activities across each province are available here. Note: this site will only be live from 24 November 2009.

Stop abuse now

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign. The Foschini Group CSI is calling on their customers and partners to STOP ABUSE NOW. On each day of the 16 Days of Activism, a non-profit organisation (NPO) that supports victims of abuse will be receiving a R20,000 donation from the Group.

GreaterGood SA will provide an online platform for the organisations involved so look out for the 16 Days of Activism icon next to the causes during the campaign.

For more details visit Foschini Group CSI.

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