Women,+violence+and+economic+challenges,+Makgetla,+B+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 24 February 2006
=Perils of violence add to economic challenges for women=


 * Neva Makgetla**

THE sight of angry crowds in downtown Johannesburg last week trying to mob the woman who accused Jacob Zuma of rape must be chilling to any woman, or indeed to any parents with girl children.

Rape is always about power — from open violence to the power exercised by a man who has higher economic, social or political status. The process of dealing with rape must counter the imbalance of power inherent in the crime by assuring rape survivors of sympathy, respect and fairness from the justice system and the rest of society. Precisely that requirement has been violated repeatedly in the current situation.

It is dreadfully difficult for a woman just to bring a rape case. Many — probably most — survivors don’t report rape because they can’t face dealing with the legal bureaucracy and the public exposure of such an intimate experience. Yet the difficulty of reporting the crime leaves a menace out there for other women. It means rape remains part of the fabric of our lives.

In these circumstances, the courage of the woman concerned in this case should awaken solidarity and respect. Instead, her stand has been met with insults, questions about her motives, legal delaying tactics and the threat of violence. These developments can only make it even harder for other rape survivors to claim justice in future.

It is particularly problematic that the common law effectively still instructs courts to doubt the word of rape survivors, and permits defence lawyers to interrogate details of the survivor’s personal life. Since 2003 Parliament has been considering (apparently without much urgency) a draft bill that would rectify these wrongs.

Until the bill is passed, a man accused of rape may use vicious tactics to undermine the woman involved, especially in cases of date rape or sexual harassment. He can argue that she consented, whatever her own impressions. He can claim that if she was sexually active anyway, she somehow has no grounds to complain of rape.

These allegations can never excuse rape in any normal human sense — but under the current law, they can weaken a woman’s case as well undermine her dignity and reputation in her family and her community.

The current law makes it harder for a rape survivor to go through with the case. Yet if women can’t speak out about rape, who will?

The power relations around rape reflect the fact that women, especially black women, are still systematically disempowered in economic and social terms. In 2004 African women made up 40% of the working-age population, but only 11% of senior managers and professionals. In contrast, white men held 37% of senior positions and African men held 20%. Overall, men held two-thirds of these senior positions; women only a third. This power imbalance cascades through the economy. For analysing women’s position, it is more appropriate to use the expanded definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people who want paid jobs but have given up looking for them actively.

In 2004 only 60% of women counted as economically active (employed or else wanting a paid job) compared with 70% of men. Even so, half of all women who wanted paid work could not find it, compared with a third of men. Almost three-quarters of African women under 30 were unemployed.

The jobs open to women were generally worse paid, less secure, and more exploitative. Just under a quarter of African women with jobs were domestic workers — one of the most vulnerable and exploited occupations. Almost half of all women with jobs earned less than R1000 a month, compared with fewer than a third of men. Statistically, an African woman with a university degree was likely to earn less than a white man with only matric.

In short, the data show that women still face massive discrimination in the economy, leaving them disempowered and dependent — and vulnerable to rape and violence.

Given these realities, it is problematic that crowds outside the court see themselves as fighting for the poor and powerless. Instead of empowering women to claim their rights, they are making it more difficult for rape survivors to go to the justice system without fear of further victimisation. That cannot help build a more equitable and democratic society.


 * Makgetla is a Congress of South African Trade Unions economist.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A159955**

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