Thank you to all POWA Walkathon supporters and participants who supported our 16 Day of Activism Campaign for No Violence against women and children; the 5km Walk at the Nike stadium, Klipspruit Soweto on the 25^th November 2018.

Let us continue to support such initiatives for 365 days not only within 16 days in a year.

Held on the 11 August 2017 at Maboneng Precinct Velvet Lounge

AVON/ POWA Candle Light for survivors of abuse and all those women who have lost their lives due to abuse.
Thank you to everybody who attended in Polokwane and Thank you to AVON for the support.

Zapiro-rape-cartoon >

People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) denounce the depiction of the Zapiro gang rape cartoon. The cartoon objectifies women’s bodies, disrespects women autonomy and minimises the trauma of rape on women.

The cartoon further brings fun to the act of rape irrespective of the pain that accompanies it. Sadly this happens at the time in our country where we are faced with alarming rape incidents, especially the recent rape incidences in Johannesburg by a white and silver Quantum. The courage of the survivors who spoke out about their experiences caused an outrage, however that outrage was not sustained. The timing of the cartoon is callous and reduces the trauma and experiences of women to a joke. This metaphor perpetuates and normalises rape and increases women’s vulnerability to rape in our county.

Whilst we support and defend the Bill of Rights to Freedom of Speech and Expression, these rights come with the reciprocal obligation to respect equality between men and women. In this light another metaphor should have definitely been chosen to depict the assault that Zuma is alleged to have committed against the state, rather than using a woman who is been raped. Zapiro should be sensitive to issues of rape which are rife. Moreover, holding down a woman manifests the reality of rape in South Africa, as women face gang rape on a daily basis.

The right to bodily autonomy is extremely disrespected in South Africa. Therefore to use a women’s body that is being raped as a metaphor in a country that is in turmoil and with the highest statistic of rape is irresponsible, insensitive and callous.

It is against this background that we demand a retraction of this cartoon, an apology and urge the Daily Maverick use their publication to educate and empower our society to treat women with respect in the light of our Bill of Rights.

For more information please contact:

Nhlanhla Mokwena
Executive Director
011 642 4345
082 785 2116

Jeanette Sera and Itumeleng Moloko
Counselling Managers
011 642 4345
083 280 2334 and 083 959 3762

The People Opposing Women Abuse, the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy are deeply concerned by the spates of rape perpetrated against women in the country.
As organisations working towards the eradication of violence against women and children in the country, we find it deeply concerning that the such atrocities have been committed against women and reported to the South African Police Services since 2016 and none of the perpetrators have been identified by the Police. These incidences of rape by white and silver quantum’s in the Johannesburg area are indication of the conflict environment that women are exposed to, we are not safe in our homes and nor in public spaces. So many us women rely on the public transport system as a mode of transportation …how then can women feel safe when a culture of impunity and misogyny is the dominant narrative in the country… Read more