Women all around the world have taken their stands in promoting better rights and safety for themselves for the past numerous decades. With every year to come it seems women are gaining their equality little by little, but this leaves out the brutal sexual violence women in South Africa face daily. Nearly 7 women are killed a day, usually after rape or some type of sexual harassment. Oftentimes receiving no medical attention, and almost never getting their justice, women are in desperate need of change in South Africa (Khumalo).
Violence against women is prominent, split between domestic violence and random rapes or killings. While violence in general is quite common and men are also victims, the rate at which women are targeted is much higher, and they are most commonly assaulted or raped before their death. Women afraid to leave their house are taking a stand and protesting for more rights and for there to be some sort of action taken to stop these horrific assaults (Khumalo). Not only is the violence itself is an issue, but the medical tragedies caused by it is outstanding. South Africa has guidelines for it’s private and public health care providers when dealing with rape and sexual assault victims. However, it seems these guidelines are not always held accountable for as there are real scenarios of victims getting denied care when it’s desperately needed (McQuoid). It is no doubt that women are living in fear, as each day there’s the high risk of a violent attack, and yet another risk of not receiving any proper medical care.
It’s clear there are measures that need to be taken to prevent this kind of violence because the severities of the injuries caused to these women are oftentimes life-threatening. Indeed, there are measures that are being taken, only it hasn’t been enough to put an end to these violent crimes yet. One african doctor, Denis Mukwege, won the nobel peace prize for his efforts in helping the sexual violence in Africa. He is a gynecologist specialized in operating on women who have had their insides ripped and severely harmed from sexual violence. He saves the lives of roughly 10 women a day, which is doing so much to help women in danger, but at the same time shows the number of women going into the hospital for his help because of the violence occurring daily (Gettleman). In regards to preventional measures, the AU - African Union - has had meetings discussing what can be done to help reduce the notorious sexual violence. The AU agreed that increasing women’s roles in society and giving them more power in their participation in peace processes is vital. (AU) The South African population must understand the importance of any common law, no matter what it’s regarding, and the AU’s ability to enforce these laws, as this will be crucial for the government to be able to have any power in administering these more important and dangerous laws when it comes to sexual violence, or violence in general. It seems even with the active efforts to shed light on this topic, sexual violence statistics have shown that the numbers have actually only gotten worse, as there is not enough fear of what kind of consequences these wrong-doings bring about, so South Africa needs to enforce bringing justice to those who deserve it (Student)
In conclusion, it seems the lengths that the government have gone to to try and reduce the amount of violence towards women has not been nearly enough. It continues to be a reoccurring issue, girls being raped assaulted, and killed, at an appalling rate, not being brought justice, and fear continuing to take over lives of women all ages all throughout South Africa.
"AU expresses deep concern over persistence of sexual violence in armed conflicts in Africa." Xinhua News Agency, 1 Aug. 2019. Gale In Context: Global Issues, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A595147550/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=c341abf8. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020
Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Denis Mukwege: A Sense of Calm Amid the Grinding Work of Saving Lives.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/africa/denis-mukwege-nobel-peace-prize.html
Khumalo, Thuso. “South Africa Declares 'Femicide' a National Crisis.” VOA News, 20 Sept. 2019, 6:29, www.voanews.com/africa/south-africa-declares-femicide-national-crisis
McQuoid-Mason, David. “May Doctors Refuse to Treat Rape Survivors in Order to Avoid Having to Give Evidence in Court?” Gale in Context, 2016, journals.co.za/docserver/fulltext/m_sajbl/9/1/m_sajbl_v9_n1_a2.pdf?expires=1585173068&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=FAE9C2B836D66B85CF8E85A06400358A. Accessed 3 Dec. 2019
"Student kills herself after rape, adding to outrage over sexual violence in South Africa." CNN Wire, 9 Aug. 2018. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A549478382/OVIC?u=los42754&sid=OVIC&xid=c1ffc62e. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020
I like how you were able to make the severity of this issue very clear. I was surprised at how little proper medical attention is given to victims. Do you know of any specific methods the government is using to handle with perpetrators and install fear in them?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite aspect of you article is that you focused on the lack of medical attention to the women that faced violence. I learned that the issue is so severe that the violence can cause death. The measures taken by the government clearly aren't effective. Do you know what are the root causes of the violence? Also who are the people that is conducting the violence to the women?
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this article about the violence on women in South Africa, really interesting!Something that I liked in your article was that near the beginning you acknowledged that men do experience violence but made it clear about the high rates of violence on women. My main take away is the lack of medical help for women in these situations, it's sad to see how they don't get the proper care they should get. Do you know if there is certain parts in South Africa where there is more violence than others?
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ReplyDeleteI thought you very tactfully brought light to the significance of this issue on a broader scale. While still addressing the moral dilemma of the violence women face, you were able to contextualize by detailing the lack of medical attention women are receiving and the objectively negative cause that holds on their lives. My main takeaway is that sexual violence towards women in South Africa is taking place at an alarming rate and their is not nearly enough medical attention being allocated towards the problem. What sort of "active efforts" have you heard of in efforts to draw more attention to the crisis?
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