Silent Protest Sign-up Open Now
Date Released: Thu, 21 February 2013 18:11 +0200
On Friday 19 April hundreds of volunteers, both women and men, will participate in the 7th annual ‘Sexual Violence = Silence’ Protest. The protest, organised by Rhodes University’s Dean of Students Office, aims to show solidarity with rape survivors who are silenced by sexual violence. Click here to sign up: Enrol for the Silent Protest course and fill in the form to add your sign-up entry. You can also sign up at Eden Grove from 15 March onwards and ask our volunteers for more information.
DETAILS OF THE PROTEST:
- 19 April from 06h00 - 21h00
- Alec Mullins Hall, Rhodes University, African Street, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
BACKGROUND ON THE PROTEST:
For the past 7 years activists at Rhodes University have staged the Silent Protest in order to draw public attention to rape and to demand better services for survivors. Government crime statistics reveal that more than 65000 sexual assaults were reported in SA last year. Of these only 6.5% are successfully prosecuted and less than half of 1% of perpetrators will serve any jail-time. All studies agree that the vast majority never report the crime to the police and there are many statistics available focusing on the ration of reporting to non-reporting of rape survivors: the most conservative estimate comes from Rape Crisis (1 in 4) and the most shocking comes from the SAPS (1 in25). These statistics translate to anywhere from 260 000 to over 1.5 million rapes annually.
These numbers are unacceptable. Rape limits human potential; it silences people, makes them feel less than human, keeps them afraid and creates isolation. Our protest on the 19th of April affirms our solidarity with the millions silenced by rape and sexual violence. Freedom of Speech is denied to victims of sexual violence. Despite the laws and policies that have been put in place, patriarchal attitudes and misogynist practice render laws and policies meaningless in the lives of many rape survivors. Survivors face victim-blaming, secondary victimisation and social stigma when they speak out about the violence they have experienced. State service providers do not always respect the rights of rape survivors and
fail to comply with norms and standards set out in national legislation and policy; these are just some of the reasons why reporting of rape cases remains low.
FORMAT OF THE PROTEST:
There are THREE different kinds of participation in the day-long protest on 19 April:
- Silent: T-shirts with 'sexual violence causes silence' on the front & explanation on the back (gagged all day, no food or water)
- Rape survivors: T-shirts with 'rape survivor' on the front & explanation on the back
- Solidarity: T-shirts with ‘STOP violence against women: the power of change is in our hands’ on the front & explanation on the back
