WATCH | Thousands express concern about crime using #AmInext & #NotAllMen
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Image: Facebook/Zuki Lamani
"Am I next?" "Are all men murders and rapists?" These are questions thousands of South Africans are grappling with on social media, as many share their experiences with crime since the news of the rape and murder of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana hit the public.
Calls to shut down South Africa until justice is served for women who fall victims of gender-based violence are gaining momentum, with many even calling for the implementation of the death penalty.
Women who are concerned about their safety are asking if they too, like Mrwetyana, are the next victims of rape and murder, while men dig deeper and introspect on what they can do to ensure the safety of women in society, calling for an end to the “defensive” #NotAllMen. Here's a glimpse of what people had to say:
#NotAllMen
Anger and outrage followed the discovery of the body of missing 19-year-old UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana on September 02, 2019. She had been missing since August 24. A 42-year-old man who worked at the Clareinch Post office allegedly confessed to the rape and murder. Gender-based violence has been a national issue in South Africa for years, with 3 915 women and children being murdered in 2018.
I’ve never felt so ashamed to be a man the way I do right now. We say #NotAllMen are the same but with the very same breath we not doing anything. This is the time where we question ourselves as men...”What change am I bringing?” #YOUARENOTNEXT #NOTUNDERMYWATCH
— Gugulethu Shili (@CallMeShili) September 3, 2019
Gents instead of sitting home and tweeting nonsese like #NotAllMen, let's help by accompanying them to school & taxi ranks because reality of the matter is that no men is a victim or survivor of this. #ShutdownSA
— Nhlanhla Mabaso 🇿🇦 (@Nhlanhla_Mabs81) September 3, 2019
If you are a man and you are here on twitter streets busy saying #NotAllMen then you are one of them, instead of defending the so called men, do something about this misogynistic attitude we see from them. We know them, let's oust them. #RIPUyineneMrwetyana
— Napjadi Letsoalo🇿🇦 (@NapjadiLetsoalo) September 3, 2019
Men who are tweeting #NotAllMen need to realise that they're doing the same thing that white people did with #AllLivesMatter to silence the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If you refuse to recognise and hear the cries of women, then you sir, are indeed trash.
— Snowy Marhwa (@SnowyMarhwa) September 3, 2019
#AmINext
Some of our parents are married today because our fathers wouldn’t stop harassing our mothers.
— Jamil F. Khan (@JamilFarouk) September 3, 2019
Our mothers gave in because being unhappy and pretending was better than being killed.
Some of our fathers have raped our mothers and celebrated it with baby showers. #AmINext
My sister was stabbed 18x by her ex and was still told by the magistrate “there is not enough evidence”
— IG: Mimo_Mokgosi (@MimoMokgosi) September 3, 2019
Where we supposed to bring a dead body? I asked???
Documents went missing...
We are being failed!!! #AmInext
Wanna know why #MenArwTrash, they responded to this hashtag with #NotAllMen
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) September 2, 2019
You know what is the most powerful response to this “denialism”? It’s an even more relevant question each woman & girl child ask themselves when they hear that a woman has been killed or raped:#AmINext
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