Breaking the pact of silence
My mother was raped by an elder from her church, someone she trusted. A man of God, or so she thought. She told her mother and her mother did nothing. This cut deep. Her mother, presumably the person...
View ArticleFrom kwaito bad boys to activists
In 2011 GP Gangsta, a hardcore kwaito group from Zola in Soweto, were working towards releasing their third album. But instead of focusing on the music, group member Nkosana Thwala, better known as...
View ArticleEnd the war on women’s bodies
November 25 marks the beginning of the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women Campaign. Since 1991, the 16 days have been used as a global organising strategy by individuals, civil society and...
View ArticleWomen abuse fuels HIV infection rate
Today is an anniversary, and not a happy one. On World Aids Day, we look up from the mundane noise and tasks of the day — our meetings, our email and even our HIV data-laden spreadsheets — and we...
View ArticleHow did we sink to stripping women in the streets?
“You will drive men crazy if you dress like that.” This common “compliment” smacks of the warning I once found in “Open Heavens”, a daily devotional from a Nigerian pastor. The devotional for the day...
View ArticleOur braaivleis, rugby and rape culture
The now defunct Afrikaans lad site Meneer.tv had a rape joke about former Springbok rugby centre Japie Mulder. Under the heading “Seks met my pêl se minderjarige dogter” [“Sex with my mate’s underage...
View ArticleDear Diary: 16 days aren’t enough
Day 1: Innocence … gone I’m in my early teens. I’m spending Christmas with my boyfriend. His mother is boozy. She tells me I’m beautiful. She gives me a sheer pink negligée with cut-outs of black hands...
View Article‘Can you hold the Constitution against your vagina, and they’ll stop raping...
By Sisonke Msimang and Mateenah Hunter While those of us who grace the opinion pages hold up the Constitution as a powerful force for change, people who are victimised by men with guns and knives and...
View ArticleDeconstructing ‘India’s Daughter’ and what it means to be a woman
I marked International Women’s Day, which was on Sunday, by watching the documentary India’s Daughter, the unflinching take on the brutal Delhi rape in 2012 that shocked the world. If you’re unfamiliar...
View ArticleSexual violence won’t end until states plug ‘gaping’ legal hole, says expert
A “gaping hole” in international law is allowing governments to ignore their commitments to end gender-based violence, according to the former UN special rapporteur on the causes and consequences of...
View Article
