Rape Crisis - A Report by Edelgard Nkobi

The 9th of August is Women's Day in South Africa. In 1956 on this day 25,000 South African women of all colours met in the amphitheatre of the Union Building, the seat of government in Pretoria. They met to demonstrate against the Pass Laws that were imposed on African women. Although the apartheid era is past, and men and women are equal in the eyes of the law, in practice things are different.

In South Africa a woman is raped every 12 minutes. According to Interpol statistics that is about one million a year. Sadly, South Africa holds the world record for these criminal acts. However this is not something new that emerged under President Mandela's government, as some like to assert. Since the 1970s women in Cape Town have thought about what they could do to help the victims and to make people aware of this awful crime.

In 1976 a group of young women formed an organisation which they called Rape Crisis, and shortly after opened an advice centre in Observatory, a suburb of Cape Town. More recently Rape Crisis has set up offices in the Black ghetto township Khayelitsha and in the Coloured quarter of Athlone on the Cape Flats. At present there are eleven co-workers and fifty volunteer consultants in the team

Are the rape figures truly as high as one reads in the press?
Unfortunately yes. But that is certainly not the fault of the new government. We do not believe for one minute that we have many more rape cases than there were under the apartheid regime. There are no reliable statistics. The rape of non-white women would barely have come to notice and were not included in the statistics. Although the shocking figures are based on projections, those involved believe they are real. The equally very high statistics of other forms of violent crime are at present declining somewhat, but that cannot yet be established for the crime of rape. The high incidence of rape has to be overcome. Now, under the new government more women believe in change in their society and feel emboldened to speak out on things about which they would have previously remained silent.

Are more rape crimes reported today?
Yes indeed. Howerver women still find it very difficult to go to the police. During all the apartheid years, trust in the police was zero. Now it appears that the police are changing. On the other hand, whoever goes to Rape Crisis knows with certainty that they will help and also give advice and help anonymously. They do not automatically involve the police and do not give out any information about the women who come to them. One can also telephone anonymously to them. However they point out that they also give whatever help is needed if the victim wants to make a report to the police. This assistance can extend to going to court with the victim.

According to statistics from Rape Crisis, 59% of all rape victims do not want the police involved. The police believe that only one woman in 35 reports a rape to the police. Only the really bad cases, the obvious assaults or the worst rapes of younger victims are reported to the police. However the majority of all rapists are people associated with the victim: friends, acquaintances, or family members, on whom they are also partially financially dependent. According to the figures 53% of women who are raped know the perpetrator.

Rape in South Africa is not a crime of poverty, nor is it a crime related to race. The figures from Khayelitsha and Cape Flats - where they have shelters - appear so high because so many people live there. There are just as many horrific cases in the "best" areas of town which still remain all white. The perpetrators come from all strata of the community. They include doctors, teachers, businessmen, and also priests and police. The numbers balance out on a percentage basis.

Where did the idea of Rape Crisis come from?
It was founded in the feminist movement over 20 years ago. The centre for rape victims in Vancouver, Canada was the model. "We learnt from these women. As social workers, doctors and psychologists we knew that similar problems were present in South Africa. In the violent apartheid society one never spoke about violence against women. Sexuality is not a theme for discussion in white, puritanical, South Africa, and sexual power was absolutely not an acceptable subject of discussion. In the African, Indian and predominantly Muslim Coloured community in Cape Town, a woman is traditionally subservient to a man and must obey him. With the knowledge we have about rape we want to explain it to all victims and help them all, irrespective of their skin colour and cultural background."

Did the former government give any support?
No, none at all. However they did not want to be identified with the apartheid state. The women needed help, but not from the police! They did not want to accept a colour bar, so formed Rape Crisis in 1976 as a Non Governmental Organisation, financed by donations and worked in an honorary capacity. In the 1980's they joined forces with the United Democratic Front (UDF). They were able to rent Rape Crisis' first home in the suburb of Observatory. It was a truly liberated area where Coloured and Indian people could survive next to the not so affluent whites who lived there. They are still there in Observatory today, in their own house.

How does it look today?
During the time of change they almost went under. Everyone thought "Now everything will be better", and no-one wanted to donate to rape victims any more. However that attitude changed very quickly as the crime figures became known. Having more than 200 victim consultations per month - and that is not only a talk but also therapy with perhaps ten sessions and discussions with relatives - they came to the limit of their capabilities. They have had a new home in Observatory for a few years now. The new place is only a few streets away from their former home. The new house is bigger. It also offers space for training and the courses that they offer. They have working areas for their co-workers where their scientific materials and their training manuals are written. The centre is also open to the public. They still prepare all their publications theirselves, as they have done since they began. Competent co-workers staff their offices in Khayelitsha and Athlone.

Their house in Khayelitsha, a giant township with more than one million inhabitants, is a complete centre specially built for their work. They were able to raise the funds needed for it from donations. In Athlone they have an office in a women's centre. Athlone is one of the historically Coloured quarters on the Cape Flats. At least one million people live there too. People whose living areas were declared white areas in the 50's,60's and 70's were forced to live under miserable conditions on the Cape Flats. Many intact communities were completely destroyed by this compulsory police action and properties were simply swept away. People arrived on the Cape Flats already demoralised. Since then the next generation that never had the possibility of work has grown up without hope. Every second youngster takes drugs. Their gangs get involved in shoot-outs. The rape figures are particularly high in this area.

How do they work with the authorities today?
They want to develop in South Africa a new level of awareness of criminal rape and to call for the police and social services to have a modern approach to those who commit the crime of rape. They arrange special training programs for district nurses and workers of the various health services, for women's groups and for the police who wish to make the effort to allow their officials to know about methods of sensitive questioning of victims. Their team is particularly proud of the fact that they were invited by the new South African Ministry of Police to organise in Cape Town their first seminar on the problems of sexual violation and rape. Their publication , A Handbook for Survivors of Sexual Violence, which came out of that seminar, has since become the standard procedure manual in many police stations.

Their work is highly valued by the judicial authorities. They were able to contribute to the work that led to setting up in the Cape Town District of Wynberg a court that is exclusively occupied with rape and other sexual crimes. They have completed the first scientific study of the work of this court for which they questioned 2,000 victims of rape.

What has the study discovered?
The court in Wynberg was supposed to be an experiment. Above all the State wanted to gather information as to whether the sentence for the crime of rape should be raised. In their study they investigated how the women are dealt with there, from reports about how they are questioned in preparing the case and during the trial itself. In the end, the victims should not be humiliated a second time by insensitive questioning by the authorities. They analysed how the reforms function through contact with a nearby hospital that was designated as an investigation point. They wanted to find out whether there are clear lines of responsibility and whether victims are not still being sent from one place to another. Their discussions as advisors and their work with victims have given the impression that these aims are not being achieved.

However the study has shown that the court in Wynberg has at least been a partial success. The sentences imposed have been raised, and today more perpetrators are found guilty than before. As regards contact with the victim, unfortunately not much has changed. The Ministry of Justice takes their study very seriously. Now an investigation commission has been introduced to deal with this problem. The court in Wynberg has been expanded, and another court especially for cases of rape has been established in the country.

How do they see their future role?
They will have to continue for a long time to do what they are doing today. There is no quick solution in sight. Although they want their organisation to remain independent of the government, they will also involve themselves further in the affairs of state. Their competence is unquestioned. They also make suggestions relating to legislation, the wording of laws and guidelines. They also lobby in parliament. They do not want to become a giant operation. "We value quality and want to preserve our reputation as a leading institution with regard to the crime of rape. We do not want to replace official organisations but to support them. If we have the capacity in future we would like to extend our help to women who are beaten up in their families or by their partners. This is another important problem in their society."