Call for universities to be more proactive on the rape issue

OUR universities are very rich in human resources. Many of our nation’s finest brains, analysts and innovators work there.

One would imagine, therefore, that universities would lead the nation in combating rape which is prevalent in our society, not through punitive measures and retribution, but through intellectual discourse and progressive thinking.

No group of female students should have to ever feel the compulsion to protest vigorously on this matter to get the universities to come on board in the THE South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) has hailed the unveiling this week of a six-metre statue of former SA president Nelson Mandela in the city of Ramallah in Palestine.

Sanco applauded the donation of the statue by the City of Johannesburg and commended Johannesburg Executive Mayor Parks Tau for taking steps to strengthen relations between Johannesburg and Ramallah and advancing Madiba’s legacy.

“The statue will be a landmark to remind the people of Palestine that they share similar struggles with the people of South Africa.

“While it will inspire the Palestinians in their pursuit of freedom and justice, it will also remind us of our obligation towards supporting efforts to end the conflict in the Middle East and contributing towards development,” Sanco said in a recent statement.

“Madiba remains a symbol of international solidarity against racism, injustice and repression.

“He taught us that peace and prosperity, tranquillity and security are only possible if these are enjoyed by all without discrimination,” Sanco said.

The organisation emphasised that the invaluable lessons in ubuntu and reconciliation that the late global icon shared with the world would invigorate hope, freedom and dignity for generations to come.

The declaration by Ramallah mayor Mousa Hadid that the unveiling will be celebrated as a national day was also welcomed by Sanco.

It would also unite and foster peopleto-people relations between Palestine and South Africa.

The bronze statue is now located at the Nelson Mandela Square in the neighbourhood of Al-Tireh in the West Bank.

It is the combined work of South African artists Tania Lee, Christina Salvoldi and Lungisa Kala. Jabu Mahlangu campaign that they are now waging.

The vice-chancellors should have taken the lead of their own volition.

For a very long time, universities have continued to be very unsafe spaces for women students. This is abhorrent. Rape, sexual harassment and sexual assault have continuously occurred and universities have never, to our recollection, accorded the problem the priority it very clearly deserves. This situation can no longer prevail. Why should it even be necessary for women students, in particular, to undertake the #EndRapeCulture campaign?

Why do they have to stir the university authorities and the police to take action?

University authorities, the police and student representatives should have been working together on the problem for the past 22 years.

A system should have been in place by now that ought to have produced positive results and made every South African university or tertiary institution a completely safe place for women students desiring to concentrate on their education without any fear of any sexual attack from any fellow students.

Congress of the People (Cope) urges every vice-chancellor and every principal to recognise the depth and ugliness of this problem and to use research readily available to them to provide inspiring leadership.

Students who are accused of sexual assault should be thoroughly investigated by the university involved and the police should be called in if a sexual crime is suspected.

Women students should not have to endure the anxieties and fear they are presently experiencing in all our tertiary institutions at present.

This simply adds to the strain that all students experience as they prepare for their assignments and examination.

Cope calls for every university and tertiary institution to take up the rape issue both as a matter for university research as well as for innovative, expeditious and effective action.

Women students must have the right to study without any fear of sexual assault. Dennis Bloem Write to: The Editor, Cape Times, Box 11, Cape Town 8000. Fax: (021) 488 4744, or e-mail: ctletters@inl.co.za. Letters of 300 words or fewer are preferred. We reserve the right to edit and only letters providing a physical address and telephone contact number (neither for publication) will be considered. As a rule, letters which have been published elsewhere, either in print or electronically, will not be considered. Pseudonyms are accepted at the discretion of the editor. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Please send letters only to ctletters@inl.co.za and Oped pieces only to cteditor@inl.co.za (1 200 or 800 words only). Contributions sent to an individual may not be considered.