Women have right to feel unsafe on the streets of SA and to start running


According to rape myths, a 'real rape' is one in which a victim is raped by a stranger who jumps out of the bushes with a weapon, and in which she was beaten and bruised. /MARK ANDREWS
Image: MARK ANDREWS
I have always known that SA women feel unsafe, rightfully so - whether in their homes, at work or in the streets.
In my line of work, I am always exposed to the horrid reality that SA presents for women. However, the reality hits you a bit differently when it is close to home or directly affects you.
Earlier this month my daughter faced an incident. On her way back from the salon, a short distance from her apartment, she realised there were fewer people on the route she was taking, and the rainy weather made her feel even more exposed.
She then realised it was now just her and one man on the road, prompting her to intensify her walking pace and even start running. She felt unsafe and vulnerable because of the war on women's bodies in SA.
As soon as she started increasing her pace and eventually started running, the man walking in the same street began swearing at her and said "ha ke nyaope, nkao etsang" loosely translated as "I am not a drug addict/user of nyaope, what can I possibly do to you".
The insults went on. What this man does not know is that there is no perfect perpetrator. Rapists and murderers can be clean men in a suit. A perpetrator does not look a particular way, him mentioning that he is not a drug addict is of no importance. What is even more alarming is the anger that this man displayed, solely because my daughter was afraid that something may happen to her.
In fact, is his violent response to her search for safety not proof enough that there was something to fear? No one should be offended by a person walking fast or running. This is the sheer anxiety and fear women live with all over the world.
My daughter's experience is not a unique one, many women have to have their guard up, calculate their every move, be very wary of their surroundings and obsessively alert at all times in their everyday lives.
Even with the most simple everyday activities such as walking back from the salon or jogging, women do not have the luxury of living their lives as freely as they want to. Our oblivious
ness as men to the safety of women comes from a place of privilege.

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