“My silence affirms my solidarity with survivors silenced by rape and sexual violence.”
Three thousand protestors nationwide united for the first time in Rhodes University’s annual silent protest on 19 April.
Wits University, UKZN, University of Fort Hare and the University of Cape Town joined forces with Rhodes University to take part in the largest student protest of its kind in the country. The protest was aimed at highlighting the fact that survivors of sexual violence are silenced by shame and by being blamed for the attacks that have been perpetrated against them.
The majority of participants were silenced for the course of the day by wearing black tape across their mouths. This was done to symbolise the silence that survivors of sexual violence experience on a daily basis. Rape survivors wore rape survivor t-shirts and did not wear the tape.
Etienne de Beer, project organiser from WITS stated, “The most important aspect of the protest was to provide an environment in which survivors were able to not be silenced, where they would be heard, supported and believed.”
De Beer added, “Our hope is that the silent protest brings to people’s attention the fact that society, the police and often those who should support survivors of sexual violence (like family and friends) silence these survivors.”
Another organiser at the WITS protest, Lauren Gmeiner, stated in an interview with Mail and Guardian online, “It’s so shameful to experience sexual violence in South Africa because there is such a stigma attached to it.”
“People are terrified of reporting rape and they are terrified of the consequences. Therefore the perpetrators walk free as they know that there are no consequences for them.
Everything falls on the shoulders of those who have been raped and that is atrocious. We should feel ashamed as a nation,” Gmeiner added.
Many men stood in solidarity with the rape survivors. De Beer encourages other men to become more aware and more active in taking a stand against rape and sexual violence - to begin to act more like partners and less like perpetrators.
According to statistics a rape occurs once every 4 minutes in South Africa.
“South Africans have become desensitised to it, they need to be really shocked before they really take notice of it,” says de Beer.
“In order to combat sexual violence we need a shift in attitudes towards rape and its survivors, alongside a justice system that works and effective law enforcement,” Rhodes University organizer Larissa Klazinga said.
Stop violence against women. The power of change is in our hands.