Originally published on page 8 of Cape Argus, 13 June 2008
By Peter Luhanga
The plight of women subjected to sexual violence during the recent xenophobic attacks has been given little attention, with the result that victims risk being denied access to justice, say researchers.
Women are regarded as the most vulnerable group of the victims of xenophobic attacks because it is believed they were seen as soft targets.
Although the scale of abuse in the May attacks is unknown, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) senior researcher Monica
Bandeira said immigrant women had been exposed to
sexual abuse.
…It happened, we do not know to what extent but we are conducting research to find out,… she said.
She said there were no figures available for the number of women raped as many were reluctant to report it to the police … seen by victims as being xenophobes themselves.
Dee Smythe, director at the University of Cape Town Law, Race and Gender Research Unit, said she knew of two women who had disclosed that they had been raped during the attacks.
She said one of the victims had reported that police had refused to assist her, saying they could not provide a service to a kwerekwere (a derogatory term for an African immigrant) and that she should rather report the case to the police in her home country, the DRC.
Smythe said as a result there had been no medical or legal examination, no postexposure prophylaxis and no morning-after pill.
Smythe said she knew of another woman who had
informed volunteers at Soetwater that she had been raped, but was not prepared to report the incident to police.
Romi Fuller, project manager of CSVR's Violence and Transition programme, said although there had been a "great response" from civil society and NGOs in helping victims of xenophobia there were no measures put in place by the government and civil society to address the vulnerability of women.
She said immigrant women in townships had been "disproportionately affected" by the attacks, not only because of sexual abuse but also through the "burning and looting of their homes".
People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (Passop) spokesperson Braam Hanekom said they were aware that women had been subjected to sexual abuse during the xenophobic attacks.
He observed that in situations of conflict women and children were "the most vulnerable".
Sonke Justice Network refugee co-ordinator Freddy
Nkosi said the women who had come forward to report their cases were not victims of sexual assault but of xenophobic violence in general.
He said the organisation … an NGO dealing with HIV/Aids,
human rights and gender equality – was counselling women who had been displaced and was encouraging victims of gender-based violence to come forward. … West Cape News
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
