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 25th 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
WHAT IS
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE?
Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence against another person because of their gender. It can be
physical, sexual, psychological, economic or cultural. While GBV is largely experienced as violence
against women, it can affect all people, including men, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and
queer (LGBTIQ) people. Read more
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.
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
Seven years ago POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse) filled a complained with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against Jon Qwelane for hate speech. The complaint was endorsed by FEW (Forum for the Empowerment of Women), OUT Well Being and Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA). Qwelane published an article called ‘Call me names but gay is not okay’. The article was published in the Sunday Sun in 2008. On Monday 29 August until 9 September 2016 the matter for SAHRC v Qwelane will be proceeding in the Johannesburg High Court. The matter is going to be heard as the Constitutional and Equality matter. POWA is going to be on the witness stand based on the complaint it lodged. POWA found the article to be offensive to black lesbian women who are harassed, assaulted, raped and killed daily in our townships. Qwelane’s utterances were irresponsible and callous to all the black lesbian who have been killed, raped and maimed.
People like Qwelane who are in positions of power should not use their positions of power and influence to promote hate and unlawfulness when presented with platforms where they can unite, educate South African citizens about the Constitution, and the importance of tolerance and respect for human rights and the rule of law. In this article Qwelane bluntly agrees with Mugabe’s utterances that ‘homosexuality is sub- animal behaviour” and compared it to that of pigs and dogs. To illustrate his position he added a cartoon in his article which shows a man marrying a goat. This kind of public stance against the LGBTI community dehumanises and ‘others’ them in a country with a violent history and continues to use violence to resolve conflict, and we cannot condone such hate speech from Qwelane. Black lesbians have been lost due to being called ‘setabane’ ‘inkonkoni’ names that ‘others’ them. Our foreign brothers and sisters have been killed for being called ‘makwerekwere’.
Not only is Qwelane a homophobe, he is a misogynist, who wants to keep his privileged position of a patriarch who sees women only as objects created on earth to serve and please men. Therefore any women who dares and defies his privileged position are unwomanly.
Homophobia must stop! Othering other human beings must stop! Women abuse must stop!
For more information contact:
Nhlanhla Mokwena, Executive Director POWA at 011 642 4345/6 0R 082 785 2116
Palesa Mpapa, Legal and Advocacy Manager at 011 642 4345/6 0R 062 215 68 26
