Beware of everyone and fight the abusers

‘Dating should not be dangerous, like it was for Karabo’

THE news of teenagers being murdered is making headlines more often than we’d like.

If they were, in the past, murdered at the rate at which they are now, it was not given the same prominence in the media.

Violence against teenagers in South Africa is on the national agenda at the moment, and girls, especially, now have more confidence to speak about any form of abuse they are experiencing, be it at the hands of their fathers, neighbours, or even boyfriends.

But it still does not change the largely patriarchal mindset that exists: men and boys act and feel like they are head of the house, or bosses of everyone, because of power.

Abuse in a relationship starts with small things, like a slap of your loved one’s face.

Soon after, you take it. You take all the abuse.

No. Let’s fight against this violence!

For girls, dating should not be a dangerous affair, like it was for Karabo Mokoena.

Mokoena went missing on April 28, her disappearance sparking a national conversation on violence against women.

Her charred remains were found soon after in a shallow grave in Lyndhurst and her boyfriend was arrested for her murder.

That incident, among many others, had proved to us that even the people closest to you and whom you trust can also turn out to be the people who betray and hurt, all the while professing to love you.

Girls, let’s take this as a lesson to protect ourselves.

People whom you think you might know could be also be the ones who could betray you.

We are living in a world where we are crippled by fear, so the best we can do is to have our own backs, and try to be voices for those too scared to speak out.

We must just break the silence.

As Rock Girls, our advice to victims is that they must seek help and not be afraid of criminals. They must show them that they can stand up for themselves.

Having been, as an example, molested by a criminal does not mean the end of the world.

Go on with your life, be brave and fearless, and join other groups which can help you go through that.

In order to fulfil the victim’s needs, justice must be served and the criminals committing this crime must spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

The girls who have been murdered by their partners have proved to us that even these young boys who we think they are not capable of hurting us are indeed capable of hurting us.

#BREAKTHESILENCE