At the crack of dawn on Friday, hundreds of protesters gathered in the Rhodes Great Hall, to be a part of the biggest 1in 9 Sexual Violence = Silence protest to date.
At the crack of dawn on Friday, hundreds of protesters gathered in the Rhodes Great Hall, to be a part of the biggest 1in 9 Sexual Violence = Silence protest to date.
Rhodes University and Grahamstown were flooded with a sea of purple T-shirts, protesting against sexual abuse and violence against women. The protest began with a dramatic gesture by more than 1 000 women who, representing the hundreds of thousands who remain silent about their sexual abuse, had their mouths taped shut for 10 hours.
More than 300 men took part in solidarity and more than 60 brave rape survivors wore T-shirts, boldly labelling them for all too see as "Rape Survivor”. This year's protest saw the addition of the women in solidarity T-shirt, for those who could not be silent for the day due to health conditions, or work commitments.
The T-shirts bore various explanations for the individuals wearing them and the statistic, “72 500 rapes were reported in SA last year (2010). Only 1in9 were reported to the police and, of those, only 4% were successfully prosecuted.”
The number of rapes reported has risen since the protest in 2010, when the statistic was “55 000 rapes were reported in SA last year (2009).” The 1 in 9 silent protest began in 2007 at Rhodes University, with only 80 participants.
In five years, this number is 20 times that many, making Friday's protest the biggest to date. The sea of purple men and women populated Rhodes University campus and the town, as they went about their usual business. Meeting during lunch for a "die-in", the protesters littered the Rhodes University library quad, creating a scene that passers-by could not ignore.
They lay still and silent for an hour, in contemplation of women who have been victims of sexual abuse. At the end of the day, the 1 550-plus purple people gathered to march silently from the Drostdy Arch down High Street to the Cathedral, for the Breaking of the Silence gathering.
Led by the Rape Survivors, the mass of protesters, filling the Cathedral's pews and spilling on to the tiled floor, took up the chant, “Stop the war on women’s bodies”, as the silence of the day was broken and the tape removed. After the voices were restored, a few individuals stood up to speak about their personal experiences of sexual violence.
One first-time participant said, “This is the most powerful thing I have ever been involved in.” Previously silent rape survivors were inspired to speak out about their experiences for the first time. Once the formalities were over, the sea of purple marched down New Street and Prince Alfred Street for a much needed supper and concert at the Great Hall.
The atmosphere was lively and loud, as chants against sexual abuse were taken up by the hundreds of voices, in the Take Back the Night March. The long day of protest ended with inspirational words and the sounds of the band, <> at the Great Hall.
