Advocacy Archives - Page 6 of 8

Empowering women to advocate for change in South Africa

Image above: Pelisa Nokoyo – Rape Crisis Court Supporter

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #BeBoldForChange. Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust has embodied this by launching our Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign in 2016 to lobby for a significant change in how South Africa’s criminal justice system deals with sexual offences cases. The Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign calls for access to sexual offences courts for all survivors and holds the government accountable for the national rollout of these courts, as was promised in 2013.

These Sexual Offences Courts are crucial in ensuring justice, because they focus on the needs of the survivor and aim to provide survivor-centred justice. These courts have specialised personnel, services and infrastructure. Some of the special features of these courts, are that the sexual offences courtrooms have separate entrances so that survivors do not have to walk past the defendant on their way to the courtroom. In addition, the survivor is able to testify from a separate room using CCTV. We believe that these courts will provide support to survivors throughout the court process and Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust provides court supporters at 5 courts in the Cape Town. These court supporters are trained to help survivors navigate the criminal justice system and offer much needed emotional support to survivors.

8th Mar 2017/by zeenat

Tax payers that donate qualify for a tax deduction

Advocacy

Not everyone knows that if you have donated an amount to a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) and you are a tax payer then you qualify for a tax deduction.

As an approved PBO Rape Crisis has the privilege and responsibility of spending public funds, which we derive from donations and from grants. In order to maintain our registration as a PBO we must of course ensure that we continue to comply with relevant legislation throughout our existence. Our annual income tax return enables the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to assess whether we are operating within the prescribed limits of the approval we have been granted.

Rape Crisis plays a significant role in society as we take a shared responsibility with the South African Government for the social and development needs of rape survivors, their families and people affected by the trauma of someone close to them.

Since the South African Government has recognised that Rape Crisis is dependent upon the generosity of the public, and, to encourage that generosity, it has provided a tax deduction for any donations made by a taxpayer.

27th Feb 2017/by zeenat

SONA Schmona and Other Things in February

Advocacy

Nearing the end of February, we have a lot to reflect on, chew on and (eventually) spit out. Both the State of the Nation Address (SONA) by our President, Jacob Zuma, as well as the Budget Speech by Pravin Gordhan, our Minister of Finance, left a bitter taste in my mouth.

During SONA, our country’s President aims to convey to everyone in South Africa what the state of this nation actually is. This event also marks the opening of Parliament for the year and, say what you want, it is exciting to see Parliament in full cry. For some general reasons to care about the SONA address, please have a look at the Activate! Change Driver’s Network page. The issues that the President mentions and highlights during this address, will be the issues that get special attention from government in the coming year. As coordinator of the Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign, I was particularly interested to hear the President’s expressed views on gender based violence, services for survivors of sexual offences and, of course, the importance of the rollout of sexual offences courts. It is for this very reason that I noted the President’s very loud silence on all of the aforementioned.

The Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign protested outside the Athlone and Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Courts during 16 Days of Activism to demand that all rape survivors have access to Sexual Offences Courts. (Pic: Alexa Sedgwick)

24th Feb 2017/by zeenat

On the importance of specialised Sexual Offences Courts

Advocacy

I know you know all about the Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign, because you’ve liked them on Facebook and you’re following them on Instagram and Twitter. Just to recap, it’s a project started to hold the government accountable to its promise of more sexual offences courts.

On Friday 25^th November, myself, three other students along with a couple of amazing Rape Crisis staff visited Parow Magistrates’ Court to get an insight into specialised Sexual Offences Courts. We’re here in Cape Town all the way from the University of York in England to study the advocacy model that Rape Crisis is developing.

14th Dec 2016/by zeenat

This is the story of a survivor who brought 10 rapists to justice

Advocacy, Road To Recovery

It’s also the story of one of our country’s specialist sexual offences courts and how this court helped her do it.

Walking home from a friend’s house one Sunday afternoon nineteen year old Dalia realised she was going to be home later than she had told her parents. Taking a short cut through an abandoned building , she surprised a group of gangsters smoking tik.

All 10 of them raped her. All 10 of them were known to her.

She finally made it home very late to her frantic parents. Even though they were all afraid of how they might be intimidated, Dalia’s parents supported her wish to report the men to the police.

Rape Crisis Court Support Administrator, Estelle Carolissen (right) guides and supports rape survivors on the road to justice. (Photo: Alexa Sedgwick)

7th Dec 2016/by zeenat

The 9 Lives of South Africa’s Criminal Justice System

Advocacy

South Africa’s criminal justice system is confusing. Not because it is littered jargon about clauses and by-laws (any self-respecting Suits and The Good Wife fan can figure that out) but rather because of its vacillating treatment of those in pursuit of justice.

Roughly between 4% and 8% of reported sexual violence cases ends in conviction. This is not because perpetrators have Harvey Spectre-esque defence teams that ruthlessly and lawlessly fight for their client’s innocence. Instead, the system itself is letting survivors down.

However, with the case of the ‘Rhodes Memorial Rapist’, it seems that the Criminal Justice System seems to have undergone some kind of reincarnation. Mthunzi Hlomane was sentenced to 9 life sentences which effectively means he will be behind bars for a total of 108 years. It seems that in this life, the Criminal Justice System is capable of successfully delivering justice to survivors of sexual violence. The whole case was resolved before the end of the year, the punishment fits the crime, a bad man will be behind bars for the rest of his life and—as Judge Mushtak Parker said—this process will help the survivors find closure “sooner rather than later”. The National Prosecuting Authority was also available for comment saying that this sentence “confirms our resolve to prioritise crimes against women and children and sexual violence”. It all sounds great and doable and faith in our justice system can be restored. Long live the Criminal Justice System (for this life, anyway)!

Image Source: Pinterest

1st Dec 2016/by zeenat

An Afternoon With the WAR Campaign Continued

Advocacy

A few days ago I wrote a blog about my experiences observing a workshop run by the WAR Campaign of Hillsong Church. Unfortunately the next two workshops we were meant to do were cancelled as we were on our way there, much to all of our disappointment. Nonetheless I returned home from the workshop we did do with a lot to think about: the approach of the WAR Campaign and how it compares to the Peer Educators program I have been involved in through Rape Crisis, my outlook on religion and how religion can influence social development, and lastly the gap between services and the community.

View this post on Instagram

We are half way through our schools tour and so many girls have come forward to open up, and speak up against rape. WE WON'T STAY SILENT. #warcampaigntour

A post shared by The WAR Campaign (@thewarcampaign) on Oct 18, 2016 at 11:48am PDT

24th Nov 2016/by zeenat

An Afternoon With The WAR Campaign

Advocacy

Last week I had the pleasure of joining the WAR Campaign on their school tour. This tour involves visiting various schools around Cape Town where they speak to high school students about rape while dispelling myths and stereotypes present in South African culture. When I arrived at Hillsong Church last Monday I truly had no idea what to expect from the experience- I had never attended Hillsong Church before and had never even heard of the WAR Campaign until the week previous. My first impression was how large, modern, and beautiful the building was and also how young the members of the campaign were- I myself am 24 years old, but I was not expecting for them to be in their twenties as well. This sparked my interest. They all gave off this very cool, hip, down to earth vibe which I assumed would greatly benefit their campaign since I expected that the high school students would see them as people that they could either relate to or view as great examples of who they could one day become. We all shared introductions, collected the campaign posters, stickers, pamphlets and the sound system, and all then piled into the van to drive to the first school in Mitchells Plain.

View this post on Instagram

We love seeing so many people come forward at the end of the assemblies to speak up against rape. #warcampaigntour

A post shared by The WAR Campaign (@thewarcampaign) on Oct 17, 2016 at 12:01pm PDT

8th Nov 2016/by zeenat

On feminism and surviving rape

Advocacy, Road To Recovery

There is an American televangelist—Pat Robertson—who shares a birthday with me (22 March and I like chocolate, in case you were wondering). But date of birth aside, him and I have precious little in common. He is a rampant homophobe, sexist and racist; justifying his opinions by cowering behind the cross. He has said things to rival Trump but he hit the nail on the head when he said that feminism “encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians”. I can personally attest to the accuracy of Robertson’s supposition. Since identifying as a feminist I have worn my Che Guevara t-shirt publicly, started dating women and have been called—on numerous occasions by numerous men—a feminist bitch (the ‘b’ replaces the ‘w’ in the antifeminist cis-het-man dialect). And I as I have yet to find a husband or breed—as far as the leaving and the killing are concerned I can’t make any promises. The salient point here is that I am a full-blown feminist. And proud of it.

Source: Lucky Budgie Letterpress

7th Oct 2016/by zeenat

‘Sleeping with the Enemy?’: the debate continues

Advocacy

I had decided to stay out of the debate on the Rape Crisis blog between “Fifty Shades of Feminism” and “Burlesque”, posts by the present and former directors of Rape Crisis. Many reasons: remembering being the “angry young feminist”, feeling caught between the older and younger generations of feminists, but most of all, affection for the personalities behind the blogs. I’ve seen Carol dancing with joy in the shepherd’s cottage she calls home, goats and flowers outside. I’ve asked her how the sam hill she keeps up her tireless international advocacy for raped and abused children without losing her mind. Her response is to crank up the music and dance some more.

And then there’s Kath, with whom I go back so far, the letters she wrote me when I went travelling (which I still have) were written by hand. It was a time of boyfriends and breakups and brothers and baked potatoes. Some of the people we loved in those long-gone years are dead now, so she’s become one of my memory-bank friends. And we have the tie of Rape Crisis too, an organisation I’ve orbited since the late 1980s. I’ve never been a member, but I’ve been a researcher and consultant for the organisation on and off since 2001.

29th Sep 2016/by zeenat