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Peace campaign shows justice begins at home
Colleen Lowe Morna. Sunday Independent. 24 November 2002. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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As Africa tries to end the wars that have torn it apart for decades, the most destructive conflicts continue unabated on the gender front.
In South Africa, a child is so badly mutilated after a rape ordeal that a surgeon is prompted to challenge a local newspaper to publish the photographs of her battered body. After facing a tough ethical choice, the newspaper opts instead to take the photographs to the Commissioner of Police, who responds by showing the newspaper more grotesque images of sexual assault and sends out the message that it's all in a day's work.
Across the border, in Swaziland, a king's representatives allegedly abduct a young schoolgoing woman to be his umpteenth wife. Her mother, a civil servant, summons the courage to take the case to a court that is fighting to maintain its independence, saying that it is not the life she wants for her daughter.
Further north, in Zimbabwe, 2002 is the year when all hell broke loose after a fraught election. As is so often the case when there is polticial violence, torture, mayhem and murder are accompanied by rape and sexual assault on women and children, especially those suspected of supporting the opposition.
In Nigeria, 2002 will be remembered as the year when the Miss World pageant faced a most unusual threat: beauty queens from around the world, including South Africa, refuse to participate - in protest against the ruling by a Muslim court that a woman be stoned to death for allegedly comitting adultery.
Beneath these headlines and many more lurks a story that until recently we preferred to pretend did not exist: it is fashionable in South Africa, in the region and even in Africa to believe that we are done with the wars that threatened our future. Yet the wars rage on - in our homes.
Whether it is baby Lerato in South Africa, Amina Lawal in Nigeria or Zena Mahlangu in Swaziland, the common thread running through these stories is the unequal status of women and girls on the continent.
November 25 is International Day of No Violence Against Women - a day designated by the United Nations just more than a decade ago to highlight one of the most flagrant yet under-reported human rights abuses. Activists around the world have extended this day by another 16 days to December 10, International Human Rights Day, to make the link betwen gender violence and the rights of women. In Southern Africa, civil society groups have declared this period "16 Days of Peace in the Home". Inspired by the Alcoholics Anonymous concept of "one day at a time", the campaign seeks to start by declaring a "truce" on rape, battery, femicide, sexual harassment, child abuse and economic and psychological abuse for 16 days and then seeing if this can be extended to a month, a year, and to our lifetime.
Is this possible? Imagine for a moment that a man in South Africa got raped every 26 seconds or that one in three men was battered by his partner. Would this not be cause for a national emergency? Would the Commissioner of Police show us yet more images of men suffering? So why are we so indifferent? Is it because victims happen to be women? The odds are indeed stacked against the "fairer sex". Their families and religious leaders tell them to "make it work" (as Mahlangu has apparently resigned herself to do in Swaziland). The police say it is a private matter. The courts cower or pass down ludicrous sentences (does anybdy know what happened to baby Lerato's rapist?). The State turns a blind eye (can anyone explain why Nigeria, a secular state, has not freed Amina Lawal?). The media, too, have been guilty of abetting the conspiracy of silence and fuelling the flames of violence through their often sensational reporting on gender violence.
But the tide is turning. Over the next fortnight, residents of Atlantis, Cape Town, will witness the "gatvol" (fed-up) minibus of the United Sanctuary Against Abuse buzzing around their streets blaring slogans telling the community that women have had enough. Women living in abusive relationships will be encouraged to break their silence, and those who are brave enough to do so will wear T-shirts proclaiming "I DID IT!". Men will be asked to stand up and declare that they are not abusers, and the back of their T-shirts will read: "I'M PROUD."
In the Eastern Cape, the relationship between culture and religion will be a central theme during the 16 Days of Peace. Initiation ceremonies and their role in defining masculinity will come under close scrutiny. A non-governmental organisation will go from clinic to clinic to find out if they are administering anti-retroviral drugs to survivors of rape - a State responsibility that in most cases is not being honoured. In Gauteng, Amos Masondo, the Major of Johannesburg, will sign a peace pledge and launch a series of campaigns that include men's marches, young women demanding justice and a spotlight on gender violence in schools.
An important theme across the board will be the failure of government to support shelters for women in need of refuge. How do we explain the fact that we spend R40 billion on weapons in a country and region at peace, yet depend on foreign donors to provide places of temporary refuge for women who are driven out of their homes? Until we face up to the home truth - that one of the least safe places in South Africa right now is the home - we will not adopt the correct policies. And until there is peace in the home, we may as well forget about peace in our land.
Colleen Lowe Morna is the Director of Gender Links, which is one of the partners involved in the 16 Days of Peace Campaign that is supported by AusAid, HIVOS, and the Open Society Foundation of Southern Africa. More information on the campaign can be obtained on www.genderlinks.org.za |
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