2 August 1999
Issued by: GCIS
Sisters, brothers, friends:
We must make a stand. And the stand is against criminal behaviour that, mainly, impacts on women and children. And our stand must be made on the firmest basis. That basis is our Constitution - an amazing, living document which is based on the will of the people of South Africa. The Constitution is a light, a beacon, which points our way to a secure future for all.
Our Constitution speaks, at the very beginning, about human dignity, equality, human rights, and freedom. It speaks of non-sexism in the same breath as it speaks of non-racialism. Non-sexism simply means not discriminating against people on grounds of their sex; and our experience has shown that it is almost always the women of our society who have suffered.
This reminder from our Constitution places the issue about which we are gathered here today squarely in its context.
The Bill of Rights in our Constitution says that everyone, which means everyone, has inherent dignity which should be respected and protected. There is no possibility that a woman subject to abuse in word or deed can keep her dignity. There is no possibility that a child subject to abuse in word or deed can have dignity. The Bill of Rights is very clear about the treatment of children. For instance, it says that every child has the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.
These points are clear. We must see that they are lived out in the daily life of the nation, otherwise we shall be misleading the women of our nation and the children of our nation. In seeming to offer them protection, but failing to do so, we shall be throwing them a rope of sand. We will be raising their expectations, only to dash them.
The first thing to get clear, against the background of the Constitution, is that abuse of women and children is not simply a women's issue. Yes, women will mostly tend tot ake the lead in campaigning for ending this criminal evil, but it should not be viewed as a women's but as a straightforward legal and social issue. Men should feel as concerned about it as women do. They should campaign too. Now. Today. Next Monday on women's day.
Whoever said that rape was becoming a national sport was saying something very sad indeed. It shows how easily men, too many men, contemplate the violation of women. If men think, for just a moment, about the pain and humiliation of male rape - an issue dealt with in a weekly newspaper recently with great understanding - they will appreciate what rape means to a woman. To say, as some do, that a raped woman was "not injured" may in some cases be true physically, but is totally wrong, because the injury to her dignity, her mind and her soul are every bit as damaging as cuts and bruises to her body.
We must de-sex issues to do with abuse. We must not see abuse as applying only to women and children. We must see them for what they are - deliberate, evil crimes, offences which should incur heavy penalties and the condemnation of all levels of decent society. In fact, there are men who are severely abused, mentally and physically, and they suffer the same pain as women and children.
I speak as Minister of Education, and plead that we should remove ignorance from society so that we may the better deal with abuse. Ignorance, particularly among men, can vastly endanger women and children. There is, for instance, a myth that sex with a virgin can cure Aids - an awful thought which is said to have increased the tempo of rape of women, and child rape. Only by grasping the issues, by understanding the real facts, by breaking out of their ignorance and prejudice can those men who fall easy prey to this type of thinking be deterred. So, we must continue the education campaigns that will lead to greater enlightenment so that people can break out of the Dark Ages of ignorance.
There is also a need for women to be empowered, and to empower themselves, and to resolve that, if they are the victims of abuse or are witness to abuse, they will take the correct action - by either walking out of a relationship or reporting the person responsible, or both. They must seek their own economic empowerment, which means they must get education and jobs; they must never rely totally on an abusive man's money and income. They must free themselves. It is more difficult for children to empower themselves. So, the whole of society has the responsibility to put children first, to ensure that they are not exploited by rogues and smooth-talking maniacs, or exploited by those who have hang-ups to deal with.
Let us campaign for a new social conscience about these issues; a new attitude of caring. Supremely, let us not view abuse as, somehow, different from other crime. If a car is being tampered with down the road, the matter should be reported. The same is true if a woman or child is being criminally abused down the road. There is no difference. Both endanger the fabric of society.
We live in a society that has emerged from a war. We must appreciate that war brutalises and domonises people on all sides; it can make good people bad. the basic respect for women and children, to some extent, goes by the board in a state of warfare, particularly modern warfare where most of the casualties are civilians on the home front, because of long-range bombing and land-mines. We must encourage a respect for peace and stability, and get away from the brutality and militarist assumptions bred in war, and what usually goes with it, over-heavy emphasis on law and order. We must teach men to be gentle, caring and kind; not to be Rambos.
And the images we see on our screens must be carefully considered. I am not calling for censorship. I am calling for due attention to be given to the consequences of scenes of rampant violence and mayhem, particularly involving women and children. Those who make and distribute dangerous rubbish like this should be called to the bar of public opinion; They should explain their actions in public. they should be judged by ordinary people.
Overall, we must show real respect for our Constitution, and the central place it gives to the dignity of women and children who are our flesh and blood, our future.