The Sadly Ignored Political Dimension of Rape

By: Gcobani Qambela (as appered in the Oppidan Press)

Rape is no doubt a serious issue not only in South Africa, but society in general. Rape in South Africa however, is a largely political issue. It is inextricably linked with (the black) race and poverty. The fact that this is not taken into account rattles the hell out of me. We recently had the “Silent protest” at Rhodes University on the 23rd of April to “protest the sexual violence in our communities and a social environment which makes it difficult to speak out” as one participant stated.

Effectiveness of student protest, especially those done with within the confines of University campuses cannot continue to go unquestioned. It is important that we start questioning the success of the protests in properly addressing the issues that they proclaim to address. We further need to carefully examine who excluded and included in these protests.

I have great respect for the “Silent Protest” initiative; I think it is a wonderful initiative that aims educate society about a serious and rampant societal problem. However I still have a number of problems with the initiative. The first being the fact that it ignores the political nature of rape in South Africa. While not denying the fact that rape affects all races - in South Africa black women, living in extremely impoverished conditions are the most affected by this, and yet the initiative takes place within areas (Rhodes and main town) where rape is not so rampant and residents of which are generally aware of how to exercise and enforce their rights.

Secondly, the space in which the protest takes place also needs to be scrutinised. I fail to see how a protest taking place within the confines of Rhodes University contributes helping a woman in a township who cannot “speak” because she has been subjected to sexual violence. The initiative places high emphasis on not speaking for the women that are silenced and yet ironically seems to do exactly this by not involving them and giving them the change to speak for themselves.

Lastly although I think the “Silent protest” has been very effective in raising awareness about rape within Rhodes University. I would contend the glass is still half full if the protest is still exclusive to Rhodes and does not reach the places where rape is most rampant – i.e. the places where the economically-marginal and oppressed live.

Please see the original paper at: http://www.theoppidanpress.com/