1 in 9 Silent Protest!

On Thursday we had our weekly 'weigh in'.  This was a repeat of our first assessment to establish how far we have come or regressed possibly.  The scale suggested a regress in my case, although Sam was quick to point out that muscle weighs more than fat.  We did the step test, again, sit-ups, push-ups, burpies, balance test, power test and lower back test. 

Miriam is busy drawing up conclusions from our results and when they are released you will hear it here first.

On a more important note, the 1 in 9 silent protest took place on 15 April i.e. yesterday.  What an amazing day! And what a wonderful way to promote sexual health and anti-violence against women and children.   So while many of my friends were celebrating "National Cleavage Day" we were protesting against violence and rape to women's bodies. I had a couple friends ask why we would protest on national cleavage day: well firstly I don't think it was intentional but anyway national cleavage day is a stupid day for men to unashamedly stare at women's boobs and why would any rational women buy into this MANmade day? 

For the clueless, and I assure you after walking around campus with your mouth taped shut, it becomes clear that there are so many arrogant and clueless South Africans out there.  The 1 in 9 campaign is a campaign which highlights the fact that only 1 in 9 women who are raped in this counry report it. 

Some Scary Stats:

In 2011, 72 500 rapes were reported in this country this is on 1/9 of the rapes that actually occurred.  Of these cases  only 4% were successfully prosecuted.  This horrific stat suggests that by the time every one of the 24 million women in South Africa, reach the age of 50, they will have a almost 100% chance of having been raped!  Quite scary if you're a women living in South Africa.

The 1 in 9 campaign was the biggest yet on Rhodes University campus and the best so far, in my opinion, (I have participated in 3 previously).  It started with speeches and taping at 6am and then a die-in at 12:30 and concluded with a march to the Cathedral, where we broke our fast with water.  Rape Survivors and Silent protesters were given an opportunity to speak out about their experiences before we proceeded in a march to TAKE BACK THE NIGHT and eat some supper at the Great Hall.  The whole experience was absolutely moving.  Some 350 men participated out of the 1500 protesters, I was impressed to see all 3 of my male classmates participating, this is the biggest group yet and will surely grow.  But as the Chaplain welcomed us and told us he was protesting because he has 2 young girls, I couldn't help wonder why more men, more specifically, my friends refuse to get involved?

One can't help being angered by being at the butt end of jokes on campus by non-participating students and perhaps the male participants feel it most.  Perhaps, my mouth being taped was a good thing because it stopped me from telling a good few males that they should come back with their comments when their girlfriend, mother or sister gets raped.  This, I realise is not the best solution and one can only hope that it doesn't take such an incident to convince the cynics that rape in this country is out of control and it's time we took control. 

A strong theme of the day was that our supposed "Justice System" is not Just; it is just a system and one that we need to fight to make Just!

In Solidarity with all rape SURVIVORS! you are not alone.