Rhodes stages anti-rape silent protest

23 March 2012 - 15:50 By Times LIVE
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#RUSilent. That's the trending topic on South Africa's Twitter, in support of a silent protest being staged at Grahamstown's Rhodes University.

The protest has close to 1500 people taking part, all with their mouths taped shut as they walk around the Eastern Cape university's campus.

Organiser Larissa Klazinga says the taped mouths represent survivors being rendered voiceless by sexual violence.

"The majority of rape survivors don't report it," she says. "It's because of the blame being placed on the survivors. [Our protest] is to make the silence visible. It's to show that critical voice that has been taken away."

With the line 'Sexual violence = silence', the protest started at 6am on Friday and will continue until 8.30pm.

Protesters are also staging a 'die-in', where 700 people are lying very still to represent what the loss of life that occurs in many sexual violence cases.

The campaign has used social media to maximum effect, using the Twitter hashtag '#RUSilent', which has seen countless South Africans of both genders commenting on the issue of sexual violence in South Africa.

In order to combat sexual violence, says Klazinga, we need a shift in attitudes towards rape and its survivors, alongside a justice system that works and effective law enforcement.

"We need to provide a space where rape survivors can speak out," she says. "We need an end to survivor shaming. We need to stand in solidarity in breaking the silence until rape survivors aren't silenced anymore."

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