By Ebi Kesiena
Women’s right activist have stated that there isn’t much to celebrate as South Africa marks its National Women’s Day, due to more than 10,000 rapes recorded in the first three months of 2023 and more than 900 women killed.
Marked every year on Aug. 9 in South Africa, the public holiday commemorates a historic protest of unjust laws under the then-apartheid regime.
Singing and matching to the union buildings in Pretoria, various women took to the street on Wednesday with the message of ‘You strike a woman, you strike a rock,’
Caroline Peters, a women’s rights activist noted that the day signifies a call to action in 1956 by 20,000 women who marched in support of gender equality.
“As a gender-based violence activist who’s been working in communities for 30 years, I’ve never seen the level of violence. The violence on women’s bodies has escalated. … I almost feel like we’ve got nothing to celebrate,” she said.
While democratic South Africa now has a progressive constitution guaranteeing gender equality, Peters said an increase in the number of female homicide victims in the first part of this year means it’s not a happy holiday.
Police statistics for the first three months of 2023 showed 10,512 rapes and 969 murders of women. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said South Africa has levels of gender-based violence that “are comparable to countries that are at war,” referring to it as “a pandemic.”
Lirandzu Themba, spokesperson for the ministry of police, said the South African Police Services, or SAPS, are very concerned about the safety of women.
“The SAPS is upscaling its operations to trace gender-based violence perpetrators, arresting serial offenders and rapists, as well as ongoing dialogues with men in various communities,” Themba said.
But Mara Glennie, who runs the free crisis hotline TEARS, noted that women who report rapes are not always assisted adequately.
“Women who go to the police station are frequently asked to go home and make right with their partners rather than given the help they need.
‘‘It is vital the government invest in educating men about gender equality in order to challenge patriarchal norms,” she added.
