Bench to Anene's memory in a 'safe space'

A "safe space" bench will be installed in Bredasdorp to honour the memory of 17-year-old murder and rape victim Anene Booysen.

Rock Girl, a grassroots campaign to create safe spaces for girls and women in Cape Town, said the initiative "sends a message to Anene's family and to the world, that Anene must never be forgotten". India Baird, founder of Rock Girl, said "while the benches are symbolic, women's and girls' right to be safe from such attacks and sexual assault while at school, work, on the streets, or even in their own homes, is real and should never be denied".

On Saturday February 2, Booysen was found raped and disembowelled at a construction site in Bredasdorp. She died in hospital later that day. Safe space benches can also be found in Cape Town's Company Gardens, on St Georges Mall, at the train station, and on Lion's Head and Table Mountain.