"... teach your sons how to behave."

This is an issue which is pretty close to my heart. Rape is an problem that haunts women across the globe. It is an act of gender violence, a crime, violation and quite frankly, not enough is being done to stop it. 

Last week a Bengali woman, by the order of her village council, was gang raped  for falling in love with a man from outside her village and not being able to pay the fine for doing so. This, after a series of violent sex crimes against women plagued India. 

South Africa's record isn't any better. Two weeks ago, a 9 year old girl was raped and then set alight. She was found alive by members of her community and was able to identify the man who later appeared in court. The community was outraged, and rightly so. With a justice system that is clearly failing the safety of South African women, do you blame communities for wanting to engage in mob justice?

I think one of the things that annoys me is the reaction towards rape. It's similar with most cases: A woman is raped, there's a huge uproar and then it fizzles out. No one thinks about the post-traumatic stress that she or her family has to endure. It happens all the time. Clearly angry outbursts are not causing any change, because the rape statistics are getting worse. A woman is more likely to be raped than learn to read in South Africa.

Another thing that bothers me is the justice system and how so many rapists get away with their actions because there is not enough proof. Then, as in the case of the 16 year old Indian girl, they further harass and even murder their victim. It is because of such things that women are less likely to report rape.

Last year, I'd written an essay about rape, summing up a few ideas that leaders in our country can implement in order to overcome and prevent rape in the future. It was written for a "Future Leaders" type of competition, so please excuse the register:

“Don’t keep your daughters indoors; teach your sons how to behave”

According to current statistics, South Africa is currently ranked second in the world as the country with the highest number of rapes and is soon to take over the number one spot from the United States of America. Statistics also show that a woman is more likely to be raped than educated in South Africa. Women play an essential role in the economic and social growth in this country and such circumstances is poison to our future growth and gender equality. This disease can only be prevented if we get to the core of the issue. Increasing physical measures can only assist to a certain degree in reducing the number of rapes, but that kind of security does not cover rapes that occur inside homes, committed by once trusted people. The core of the issue lies in the attitude of humanity towards such behaviour.

It is often a misconception that rape is driven only by certain basic desires of a human being; however, the act of rape is stemmed from a psychological need for power. Rapists exercise their power over the victim by going against their will. This is precisely the attitude that needs to change. More often than not, the perpetrator has experienced a certain lack of power in another aspect of their life – be it in the work or domestic environment. At times incidences from ones childhood, abuse being a key example, may only affect a person later on in life. All these are linked to the psyche, and the clear, yet often undermined solution, lies here. Social workers and counsellors are the most underrated and undermined professionals in this country, generally earning less than teachers. Their training lies in assisting a person to come to terms with their situations or past situations. Once a person has come to terms with their experiences in a logical but understanding manner, they are able to move on from it and not allow such negativity to affect their futures. Hence, it is clear that counselling and social work is an effective antidote to the psychological poison created in the minds of people. What we, as future leaders, can do is to ensure that the money we intend for Corporate Social Welfare is injected into the right projects. Rural schools cannot afford a school counsellor and there are children who are in need of counselling. By paying the salary of a social worker of a rural school, we take a step in preventing the future of this country from being consumed by negative psychological desires.

Another attitude that needs to change is the one of little understanding and a lack of compassion by citizens. Rape has become so rife in our country, that when we hear about new cases we rarely show the indignation or anger it needs. Sometimes we even turn our heads the other way. In extreme cases of gang-rape, the uproar against it last for a few hours, maybe a few days and then we all get back to our everyday schedules and the victim is left psychologically vulnerable and without hope and the initial uproar loses effect. We, as citizens, tend to act on the ‘that which doesn’t affect us, does not concern us’.  This is another attitude that needs to change. The only way to change this attitude is to come to the understanding that if we do not commit to fighting rape in this country, then its growth will be detrimental to our future generations. We underrate our power as citizens. Our government is chosen by us; hence we have the ability to put pressure on them in terms of our current legislation relating to rape. Punishment for rape is far too lenient, leading to the recent rapid increase of this crime in our country. By putting due pressure on politicians to intensify the punishment for rape, the lawmakers in our country will be obliged to change policies. 

Rape can lead to the spread of AIDS and unwanted pregnancies, not to mention the psychological trauma experienced by victims. These issues all need to be addressed in a compassionate manner to show support to rape victims and to strengthen the fight. Education plays an essential role in creating awareness. Apart from the adverts and pamphlets, organisations that are committed to the fight should be assisted in going to areas where rape is rife and educate citizens on what to do in vulnerable situations, where to get tested for HIV and where to obtain the ‘morning after’ pill to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Included in such education should be the numbers of local police stations, helpline numbers and local social work groups to assist victims when they have no support.  This is not meant to encourage rape in any way, but instead to ensure that citizens are so well-informed that they may be able to get out of a compromising situation or help someone they know.

One of the manners in which techno-savvy rapists work is that they use fake profiles and cyber-stalking to attract victims, gain their trust and, after securing a meeting with said victim, rape them. This problem can be easily resolved, again, through education. It is difficult to stay away from the internet in a technologically advanced era, but we all need to exercise maturity and caution. Children and teenagers are the most vulnerable in this regard; hence parents need to gain sufficient techno-knowledge to be able to exercise parental control. By preventing loved ones from meeting strangers they met on the internet, this will aid the reduction of rape-statistics in South Africa.

The attitude of men plays a significant part in the reduction of this poison. A prime example of this is an organisation in South Africa called Brothers for Life. The organisation is aimed at changing the attitude of men with regard to their treatment of women, the fight against AIDS and rape, in order to breed positivity and hope in our society. They do this through creating awareness, encouraging and providing means to get tested for AIDS, educating people on the dangers of gender violence and acknowledging those who have played an active role in their fight against societal poisons. Organisations with such or similar objectives can inevitably be successful in changing and shaping the attitudes towards rape in our country.

Many South African citizens have lost hope in our government, our fight against societal poisons (like rape) and our future as a whole. This is, inevitably, the attitude that needs to change and is achievable through education, correct professional care and assistance, compassion and caution. Positive thoughts breed positive actions. If we can show citizens that there are ways to fight rape, the fight against the poison becomes stronger. The quote,

                “Don’t keep your daughters indoors; teach your sons how to behave” (Unknown)

is quite relevant in summing up how to go about finding the antidote to the poison – the fight against rape will only be successful if we start by adopting the correct attitude.