Vile-ence

Having spent nearly six months in Ingwavuma, Mary and I have been completely won over by the people and the setting. We feel great warmth from the wider community. And, while remaining cautious, we feel safe when out and about. However, even in rural KZN, violence remains frighteningly frequent.

One of the most depressing aspects to working as a doctor at Mosvold, is the workload generated by sexual violence. Gang rape and attacks on minors seem to be particularly prevalent. Presented with the victim, the doctors investigate physical evidence of the crime on their body. The police then search for the perpetrator. The police have a good reputation for catching those responsible. Their work is visible to the doctors because the accused are regularly brought to the hospital for DNA testing. (This also presumably explains why so many rape victims come forward.) Nonetheless the assaults continue.

The depth of the problem is massive. A recent article in The Guardian Weekly contained details of a survey by the Medical Research Council. In this, 28% of men from KZN admitted to rape. In Gauteng (the wealthiest province) the rate is even higher at 37.4%.

This violence has its roots in rotten gender attitudes. These were also investigated in the survey. Of those asked, 55% of men thought that rape within marriage was a crime. Over 30% considered the promiscuity of a woman to be relevant in the assessment of whether rape had taken place.

Unfortunately, efforts to combat the problem currently seem doomed to fail. If there are public campaigns they are not heard in Ingwavuma or other rural areas. Very few people have access to the media.

Sadly, what is well known, even here, is that the President was accused of rape and acquitted. It is also common knowledge that his defence was partly built on provocation – the female involved was wearing a certain type of cloth. (Incredibly, Zuma also revealed under cross-examination that he had taken no precautions despite the lady having HIV. He felt it unlikely that a healthy man could contract HIV. He also had a shower afterwards.) Guilty or not, it makes public pronouncements on the issue by the ANC somewhat awkward.

The principal/only real vehicle for change is the education system. Written into the text books are lessons on achieving gender equality. These try to challenge traditional views. However their success depends firstly upon having an enlightened teacher. Otherwise they can easily be skipped. Secondly, they depend upon the school reinforcing the message within the school ethos. Does the school, for example, expect all the children to sweep the classroom floors or just the females. Finally, the lessons need to withstand contradictory messages being received at home.

Perhaps the education system can help to win the battle in the long-term. But not before many more badly injured women have been treated at Mosvold.