Violation of Human Rights: Rape as a Crime
Yesterday afternoon, on my way back home from work, I heard about an incident on the radio. It was casually announced that a 17-year old teenager named Anene Booysen was "viciously" raped and mutilated in her home town of Bredasdorp, Western Cape, South Africa. Before she passed away, she managed to name her ex-boyfriend as one of the rapists. It would appear, as there were many suspects, that she was gang-raped. At this point, two men had been arrested and will be brought before court next week. After hearing this announcement, the country was up in arms and the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League commenced intense political action against rape, demanding that more awareness and "harsher punishments" to be handed down by the courts for such crimes. LEAD SA, a 94.7 initiative, also commenced public action. The two statistics that frightened me the most were announced as well and these were: One in every three women in South Africa will be ra...