I must admit sometimes I avoid reading stories about rape.There are way too many of them in South Africa. But in a country like ours this is terribly hard to do. Women are raped everyday in here at home.
So whether I chose to open that link,pick up the newspaper or watch that report on tv or not it happens. In fact someone is probably being violated now as I write this.
I have read many articles in the last few weeks about South Africans and our reaction to rape. Yesterday I read a piece on Reuters where the journalist says the death of a 17 year old western cape girl from injuries inflicted from her ordeal when she was gang raped last Saturday would not cause much outrage in South Africa.
The journalist continues to say that Rape has lost "the power to shock in our country'. I don't believe that this is true, we definitely do get shocked by rape and we get outraged . How can you claim that Rape doesnt shock us when in Limpopo alone the police have recorded over a 100 cases of Rape since the new year? Our problem is we do not know what action to take to deal with Rape.
Going through social networks yesterday after news of the death of this 17 year old, I admired that some were able to articulate their outrage better than my two word response to it.At the same time I also saw a number of South Africans just like me who are outraged by it but really just don't know what to do or where to even begin.
With every story I read about rape I feel helpless,I look around me for guidance on what I should be doing beyond expressing outrage.I want to be involved in finding a solution to South Africa Rape problem,to ensure that I as a woman can feel safe in my home when I have people fixing my blocked drain. I also want a solution to to the Rape problem to make sure that one day when I have a daughter she never becomes a victim. Instead of measuring our level of outrage over rape I believe it's come a time where as a nation we must find a solution together. Without pointing fingers.
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