‘Politicising Masculinities: Beyond the Personal’

An international symposium linking lessons from HIV, sexuality and reproductive health with other areas for rethinking AIDS, gender and development; 15-18th October, 2007, Dakar

“BRING ME MY MACHINE GUN”: CONTESTING PATRIARCHY AND RAPE CULTURE IN THE WAKE OF THE JACOB ZUMA RAPE TRIAL

Dean Peacock and Bafana Khumalo

Sonke Gender Justice Network[1].

On Sunday March 5th 2006, a day before the Jacob Zuma rape trial resumed a fellow gender activist and friend of ours was raped in her home. On Monday the judge in the Zuma trial issued his verdict--and found that the prosecution had not proven beyond reasonable doubt that the former Deputy President had committed rape. In reaching that verdict, he publicly rebuked the police for their shoddy investigation.

For our friend, a year later there is still no resolution to her case. The trauma inflicted upon her persists. For her and countless other rape survivors, the sleepless nights, the intermittent panic attacks whenever she is alone, the terror and hyper-vigilance on the streets and in the taxi on the way home and the devastating depression continue to gnaw at her sense of self and at the convictions that inspired her activism.

When the rapist broke in through her door and held a knife to her throat she did all she could to convince him to wear a condom. She finds some solace in the fact that she was able to persuade him to try and put a condom on-until, drunk and violent, he broke it. He then raped her. She is in her mid-twenties. It is the fourth time she has been sexually assaulted.

Fortunately, as a gender activist, she knew about the importance of post exposure prophlaxis and was lucky enough to live near one of the few health service sites in Gauteng that stocks it. The medication left her sick for the full 28 day course but at least she had it. Studies show that many and perhaps a majority of South African women still do not have access to PEP (GenderLinks 2003).

The two male police who arrived on the scene informed her that no women police were available despite existing policy that there should be and made little effort to secure forensic evidence. When she was taken to the sexual assault unit in Braamfontein there were no counsellors available to debrief her. Instead, a well meaning doctor told her how much worse it could have been and described in detail the ordeal of a gang rape survivor who had been brought to the centre earlier in the evening.

In the weeks following her rape she made repeated calls to the police and got no response at all no call back, no additional questioning, nothing. And that despite the fact that the rapist had stolen and used her phone and in the process left a clear trail for the police, had they taken action. It turns out her investigating officer has over 60 cases at the moment, more than half of them children. Most of her colleagues are carrying even larger caseloads. They earn very little and are themselves often struggling with the after-effects of repeated exposure to stories of trauma and dehumanising brutality (Storm and Rothmann 2003). With that many cases, they are able to attend court cases but do almost no investigation.

Almost two months to the day since she was raped, our colleague has still heard nothing about her case. In all likelihood, her case will remain unsolved and the criminal justice system will send a silent message to the man who raped her and to many others like him that they can rape and brutalise women with impunity.

Whatever we may think of the outcome of the Zuma trial, the trial itself and the public debates it has generated have offered us important lessons about rape in South Africa. As a country, we have to act on these lessons. Failure to do so makes a mockery of our constitution-especially Section 12, subsection 2 of the bill of rights which states that “Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right to security in and control over their body” (South African Constitution 1996).

Lesson One: Violence is Endemic and Committed with a Sense of Impunity

What have we learned? We have learned-or, more accurately, been reminded-that sexual violence is endemic and that very little is done to stop it. Like our colleague, the complainant in the Zuma case was raped throughout her childhood. In neither case were the perpetrators held to account. In the case of the Zuma trial, this history of sexual abuse at the hands of much older men was cynically used to suggest that the complainant “cries rape” after supposedly engaging in consensual men.

Our reality in South Africa is that only one in nine victims reports rape and fewer than ten per cent of reported rapes lead to conviction. Inadequate recording of statistics makes it impossible to determine conviction rates for domestic violence but a recent study of domestic violence homicides in South Africa showed conviction rates no higher than 37.3 per cent (Mathews et al. 2004). Put another way, over 90 per cent of rapists and nearly two thirds of men who kill their intimate partner go unpunished. This sends a clear message to perpetrators that they are unlikely to be apprehended or convicted and gives women little reason to believe that they can safely leave abusive relationships-even if they suspect their partner is putting them at risk of exposure to HIV/AIDS.

Lesson Two: Our Health System still Treats Women with Disregard

Through the many discussions and increased media scrutiny surrounding the Zuma trial, we have learned that our health system continues all too often to treat rape survivors with disregard bordering on contempt. Despite endemic levels of rape and HIV/AIDS, studies indicate that no more than 30 per cent of staff caring for rape survivors had received specialised training on rape (Christofides et al. 2005), and that post exposure prophylaxis was available in only 15 per cent of public sector clinics (GenderLinks 2003). A May 2007 report prepared for the Human Rights Commission by the National Working Group on Sexual Offences, reveals that staff at many health centres “refused to provide medical treatment in the form of antiretroviral drugs, taken as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV infection, if the rape had not been reported at a police station” which has dire implications for rape survivors, given the 72-hour timeframe within which PEP has to be taken. Shockingly we learn from this report that “almost a third of government health practitioners at 31 national rape centres said they did not consider rape to be a serious medical condition.” While it is good news that we are now seeing signs in May of 2007 that the Sexual Offence Bill is moving forward again, it is certainly disappointing that “provisions allowing for the comprehensive treatment and care of rape complainants” are lacking (National Working Group on Sexual Offences 2007).

Lesson Three: Our Courtrooms and the Media very often Re-traumatise Rape Survivors.

We have also learned that our court rooms often serve to further brutalise women. A colleague reports that after watching news coverage of the trial her 15 year-old daughter told her that she would choose not to report rape rather than be subjected to the humiliating questions the Zuma complainant was forced to answer.

The actions of Zuma’s supporters outside the Johannesburg High court -- the attack of a woman who resembled the victim; the publication of her name and picture despite a court ruling making this illegal; the burning of her picture and the attack on her home twice before the case was concluded in court, all of these acts of intimidation raise fundamental questions about the principle of the rule of law. All of this was done in the presence of law enforcement agencies and yet no one has been brought to book for these violations. What does this mean for the rule of law? Does this mean that women facing similar situations where their attacker is a prominent figure should not bother to come forward for fear of having to face such public humiliation? Is this what our democracy has come to mean?

Lesson Four: Victim Blaming is still the Order of the Day

We have learned that men's violence against women is still explained away by crude victim blaming. Story after story in the media has shown us that women are still blamed for being raped if they do not forcibly resist, if they show their knees, if they talk about sex, if they have been previously raped, if they visit the house of a man after certain hours and if they don't have a boyfriend. Similar arguments, of course, are not made to blame victims of carjackings for having their windows open or victims of break-ins for not closing their curtains. What explains this double standard? Put simply, sexism. Following the not guilty verdict, the Treatment Action Campaign issued the following succinct statement:

“The Former Deputy President's position on gender reflects the sexism which continues to plague our society and drives our HIV epidemic. Such views are not acceptable in any man, much less a leader who fought for freedom and equality...On this 10th anniversary of Parliament's approval of our constitution, TAC remembers Lorna Mlofana, Nandipha Matyeke, Gugu Dlamini and many women who were victims of gender based violence. TAC will continue to strengthen its efforts to build a society in which women can live as equal citizens, where men respect women and where women can enjoy the freedoms guaranteed by our constitution (TAC Electronic Newsletter 2006).”

Lesson Five: We can not Allow our Traditions to be Hijacked and Demeaned

During the trial we heard Zuma argue that Zulu culture does not allow a man to leave a woman sexually aroused. We were asked to believe that doing so would in fact constitute rape in Zulu culture. According to Zuma, “leaving a woman in that state [of sexual arousal]” was the worst thing a man could do. She could even have you arrested and charged with rape. (Moya 2006)” In the process we were insulted and infantilised. Who did the defence team think would believe this? This was the first time as South Africans we had heard of this cultural practice. Where indeed was this practiced “culturally”? Interestingly, when traditional leaders were asked about this they indicated either ignorance and in some instances outright rejected this claim, dismissing it as “Zuma culture, not Zulu culture” (Moya 2006). Traditional leaders remind us all the time that they are custodians of culture. If this is true, why did they remain silent about this violation of culture and the misuse of its edifices for personal gain? Their silence is all too easily construed as evidence that they agreed with Zuma’s statements. We should expect better and bolder leadership from traditional leaders.

Lesson Six: Representations of South African Men are oftenCounter-productive andFrequently let Men off the Hook

Media representations and popular discussions often seem to suggest that men are not much different than animals when it comes to sex. Suggesting that men have limited control over what often gets discussed in primal terms as “sexual urges” is dangerous to women and it also demeans men. Men are after all not animals incapable of controlling themselves. Men are capable of making ethical decisions based on their understanding of what is right or wrong. At a workshop in Gugulethu a few years ago a young man bragged that no woman ever refused his sexual advances—and if he thought they might then he just “applied a little pressure”. Another man wearing a COSATU jacket stopped him and said, “along with the rights we won in 1994 came responsibilities. You have a responsibility to respect a woman’s right to say no.” We have to be able to hold men to this set of standards—and to allow representations that imply men are not capable of respectful choices or to continue to use the language of “sexual urges” undermines our ability to do this.

Lesson Seven: We need to Educate Men and Boys aboutwhat Constitutes Sexual Consent

Zuma's claims that sex between he and the complainant was consensual should sound alarm bells about men's understanding of what constitutes sexual consent and their sense of entitlement to women's bodies. In workshops across the country, we have heard many men argue that sexual consent is established when a woman gives her cell phone number, accepts a drink, dances closely, or comes back to their house. These definitions of consent then provide men with a convenient justification for not respecting women's right to say no to sex. Following allegations of rape against Judge Desai, many media commentators seemed incapable of recognising that a woman has the right to visit a man’s room late at night carrying condoms and be potentially exploring the possibility of having sex and then still change her mind. This has to change.

As a society, we need to educate young and adult men about the difference between consensual sex and date rape and make sure that men understand that women have the right to say no to sexno matter what the relationship and no matter what signs they may think indicated an interest in sex. Most importantly, though, we need to create a society that encourages men to respect women. This requires that government implement comprehensive life skills classes and that our schools educate young men in the classroom, on the sports fields and in the halls. Teachers, coaches and administrators have to set the standards—never colluding with peers who trade grades for sex or who turn a blind eye to sexual harassment or dating violence on their watch.

Lesson Eight: We need a Strong Sexual Offences Act

After the Zuma trial we heard lots of noise about the imminent passage of the Sexual Offences Bill. A year later it still has not been passed-although some of the obstacles to its passage have been removed as of May 2007. As a result of the Zuma trial and as a result of what we have learned from our friend's ordeal, it is clear that this bill needs to be passed urgently. Despite prior commitments from senior government officials that it would be tabled, it has languished since 1998. It must be passed immediately. The Zuma trial has shown us that it must include provisions that protect rape survivors from further traumatisation in courts-whether on the stands or in the nearby streets. To be meaningful, the new act must also include clear provisions for additional resources. The Criminal Justice System will need additional specialised sexual assault police with decent pay to be able to do their job properly and to avoid the kind of rebuke they received today. Rape survivors in every community across the country need easy access to fully staffed specialised sexual assault centres with easy access to PEP. The public needs swift and committed investigations to hold perpetrators accountable and to deter additional assaults. Without a commitment from the treasury to pay for these services, the law will be severely compromised.

Lesson nine: Organisations Working with Men need to be more Politically Engaged

Two years ago Kofi Annan said, “Across all levels of society, we need to see a deep social revolution that transforms relationships between women and men”. There are many well known organisations working with men to prevent gender based violence in South Africa. Throughout the trial, however, most of these organisations were silent – with the exception of a small number of Men as Partners activists and a larger contingent of men from the Treatment Action Campaign. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela writes that “the attitudes about women revealed (by) those who aspire to become leaders of the African National Congress are frightening” (Gobodo-Madikizela 2006). She argues that “women should gather outside the venue of the ANC's next National Conference to make sure that those selected to lead the country are committed to the advance of women's equality”. Men should be there too -and on lots of other occasions between now and then. The stakes are simply too high for progressive men's organisations to remain silent.

Rights-based activism is an important strategy that offers significant prospects for bringing about meaningful change. To date, organisations working with men have only occasionally used rights-based activism and have focused almost exclusively on community education. On the one hand, this reluctance to engage in activism may reflect the ideological orientation of the larger NGOs and the restrictive funding and reporting parameters of USAID and PEPFAR, which encourage organisations to reach large numbers of people with messages emphasising narrow behaviour change focused on abstinence, being faithful and the use of condoms. On the other hand, it may also reflect the limited budgets of the smaller NGOs.