Women face a new form of injustice
The advent this week of National Women’s Day, with all the acclaim, recognition, respect and honour it bestows on the females of our beloved country, stands in stark contrast with the horrendous statistics reported last week by LifeLine Zululand.
In the course of delivering their various victim empowerment projects and counselling functions, they encountered more than 17 000 women in the region who had been subjected to rape, sexual abuse, assault and intimate partner violence over the past operational year.
Who knows whether this is just the tip of the iceberg, and whether or not there are many more who suffer abuse in silence?
On the other hand, could it be that more and more women have plucked up the courage to come forward, thanks to exposure to a friendlier receiving environment at police stations?
In any event, the figures are horrendous in this day and age.
The words ‘women’ and ‘sacrifice’ go together in the context of South African and world social and political history.
The reality is, Women’s Day in particular is one that has its roots in an event so brave and profound, it changed the course of our nation’s history.
On 9 August 1956, a courageous group of about 20 000 women of all races, led by Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophie Williams–De Bruyn, marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Their mission: to protest
among others, against the iniquitous ‘pass laws’ that had led to so many brutal attacks and imprisonments against innocent citizens by the dark State security agents.
More than any other sector of an oppressed society, women were most affected and bore a heavy burden in the struggle for justice.
They vented their anger at great personal risk.
It didn’t happen overnight, but by this and continual protests and resistance, the antipass campaign played a major role in the transformation to a democratic South Africa.
The original protesters and those who walked in their footsteps since then, ensured the dignity and respect of all women.
Sadly, one form of injustice has been replaced by others.
The great enemy against our mothers, wives and daughters of all ages is now rape, domestic violence and the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
It is shocking, disheartening and despicable to learn that in South Africa, a girl is more likely to be raped than to get an education; that every 17 seconds a woman suffers the terror of rape.
That’s more than 5 000 every day.
We support the human right of every woman to live in a world without violence, rape and fear.
That should be the country’s top priority, to protect those who hold a special place in the past, present and future history of our nation.