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In a Facebook post which has since been deleted but has been quoted in media reports, she described her ordeal: “I was sleeping and then I wake up to feel fingers up my vagina. I then wake up to go cry in the bathroom and try and wake up the men in this space.”
The alleged perpetrator was arrested on Tuesday.
(In case you were wondering why the incident as described would be considered rape and not assault, according to the Sexual Offences Act any form of penetration without consent is rape. This is why anal penetration is now also classified as rape and not sodomy.)
The victim also wrote that it took her “pleading and eventually... tipping over tables and f***ing s**t up” before her male comrades came to her aid. This is terrifying.
From the beginnings of #FeesMustFall, women were integral to its existence. Outgoing Wits SRC president Shaeera Kalla and her incumbent Nompendulo Mkhatswha became two of the most recognised faces of the campaign. I personally found them inspiring, and judging by the comments on my social media feeds, so did many others. The hashtag #MbokodoLead, referring to the strength of women, represented a powerful aspect of the protest.
Unfortunately, sexism has also been widely reported. Daily Vox reporter Pontsho Pilane wrote in City Press that when Kalla and Mkhatswha spoke to groups of students, they were “continuously snubbed and silenced”: “Crowds would gravitate to former president Mcebo Dlamini and the Economic Freedom Fighters’ Vuyani Pambo at first glance.”
Kagure Mugo, co-founder of HOLAAfrica!, wrote about the way in which the men in social movements against other forms of inequality tend to ignore the role of women: “The idea that addressing gender equality hinders the student movement can be construed as: We don’t really want empowerment for everyone, we want empowerment for black men.”
#PatriarchyMustFall became one of the trending hashtags of the protest, because those who advocate social change need to remember that empowerment must include women. Black women in particular are in various ways even more disenfranchised than black men.
With the rape at Azania, the name and image of the alleged perpetrator, stating that he is a rapist, have been widely shared. However, those who publish the image, as well as the victim herself, are risking defamation suits. Many people have said that they do not care about this possibility, and that using the word “alleged” suggests that the victim is lying.
In a murder case, no one doubts that a crime has occurred. We still refer to the person responsible as an “alleged murderer” until he or she has been found guilty in court. We need to treat rape victims without skepticism so that they do not have to feel desperate to be believed, which goes right along with dismantling the perception of male superiority.
Patriarchy must fall.
