lesbo rape - hate crimes [update]

By Zanele Muholi

February 2005: Our youth is in danger. Their bodies and minds are affected by the hate crimes against women and lesbians that are decaying our townships, community, and families. This is an update on three lesbians who were raped last year in 2004 by people known to them. These young women were between the ages of 16, 18, and 22.

Listening to lesbian rape can be such a soul denting experience. It is heart-breaking and the stories leave emotional scars forever. Even if a woman can repress the experience, block it from her mind, it still hurts. Worse still, is when I get the call from media people looking for 'lesbians who have experienced rape', as if these women are not victims/rape survivors/real people.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) estimates that approximately 1.8 million women are raped every year in this country, every six seconds of every single day. Many of these women know who their perpetrator is: a husband, boyfriend, neighbour, friend, father, pastor… Many women and other organizations fight for zero tolerance on rape, but do not take lesbian rape as 'gender based violence' and do not even want to hear about lesbianism and the challenges that we face. We live in such a crazy world. Period! The truth is, 'Ngiyesaba' -I'm shit scared. There is a song in Zulu that says 'lemini iyeza nakuwe' -This day will come to you too. It is mostly sung at funerals.

The thought of lesbian rape, attempted rape and assault, terrifies me as I do not know when it will ever stop.

Recently, I had a conversation with Wendy Isaacs, the legal advisor for the Equality Project, around prioritization of hate-crime cases in this new year . We are not seeing a decrease in the incidents, there is a rise instead. This is clearly a sign that something more needs to be done to combat this. Wendy and I checked the status of the cases in the police stations where they were reported. This is how they look like:

March 8, 2004

CASE NO.: 619/03/2004

There are three major cases that are recent, meaning that hardly a year has passed since they took place in Kagiso. Those are the cases of KS, an 18 year old that was raped in March 2004 by a male friend of hers. The matter went to court in her absence, the perpetrator was locked up for few days, and then he was released. The policeman in charge of the case did not inform KS about the proceedings of her case. When Wendy and myself called the Kagiso Police Station on 2nd February 2005, to check on the development of the case, we were first told that they (the police) could not trace KS's case number. The second time we called, we were told that the person in charge of that case was on leave. We asked for his cell phone number, but our request was refused with the excuse that they did not have the numbers.

Clearly, we were not being taken seriously and we were dismissed just like that. All we could ask ourselves was, "How can the policeman's colleagues not have the emergency number for a person who handles serious cases. What if the rape survivor is being intimidated by the perpetrator and she needs to report that to the person in charge of the case? What is it that the police need to see here? Do they need to see her being raped to death?"

KS's case is still left hanging and cannot be traced on system since their computer system is either down or there is some other problem. Sometimes, one calls the police station at 15:55 only to find that the police officer is looking for is on leave or has already knocked off.

Three months after KS's sexual assault, her perpetrator began to harass and terrorize her. She had to leave her township and reside at her friend's place for protection as it was too frightening and traumatising for her to see and be forced to interact with him. It is not over for KS because she may like to see justice done.

May 8, 2004

CASE NO.: …/05/2004
The second case of lesbian rape that I have recorded recently is that of a 16 year old pupil who lives in Ratanda. DM was raped by a man from her neighbourhood, who was a friend of her guy friend. In this case, too, the rapist is out, which has made her too scared to attend school and classes. On the police computer system when we checked, there was no suspect registered. Despite the fact that the perpetrator was picked up by the police a few days after the matter was reported. When we asked about the person in charge of the case, he too was on leave, just like in KS's case.

December 14, 2004

CASE NO. 573/12/2004

On the 19th of December, 2004, I headed to Eastgate to buy an audio cassette and batteries for recording another! story of hate crime. It happened on Tuesday, December 14th, 2004 in Soweto, Meadowlands township. Ironically, T had bee one of the people that attended the Pride 2003 march where the lesbians protested against hate crimes. She did not know then that something so humiliating & traumatizing would happen to her one day. She has also become a statistic. As most people prepared themselves for December 16, Reconciliation Day celebrations in South Africa, this lesbian was up and down seeking help to get proper treatment for her assault. At that time, she tried hard to deal with the trauma of being bashed and raped by a guy friend whom she had known for more than 5 years, someone whom she had treated like a brother. Unfortunately for her, trusting this man was a big mistake, as she became yet another statistic of hate crime.

This is how she told her story to me when she was still at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto.

"I was at the nearby tavern not far from my home, and my guy friend joined me as usual for some drinks. I did not suspect anything as the person was no stranger to me. I have known this guy for more than 5 years and my family is aware of our friendship too, so is his sister. I treat him as my brother, but what he did that night is unforgivable.

As I left the tavern to buy cigarettes, he followed me. On the way, he started grabbing me, which was quickly followed by a smack and heavy blows. I asked why he was doing that. He told me that he wanted to sleep with me and he forced me to his home. When we got there he continued to bash me. I tried to fight back, but he was stronger than me.

He continued to beat me up until I was unconscious …. I really do not know what happened in that period. I only woke up the following day, undressed, with bruises and a painful body. For sure he did it, as he bashed me to force himself on me. I did not do anything wrong to deserve this. I asked for my clothes, but he refused to give them to me and gave me his instead. I dressed up and left his house to seek help. All I needed was to see the doctor. He accompanied me halfway, and told me not to go to the police. He said he will take me to his doctor, but I refused the offer. He turned away. I then went to the police station to report the matter and was told to wait for the car to take me to the hospital. But I could not wait for that as I was feeling pains, I then went to Bara where I was told to go to another department-Nthabiseng, which is a section where abused/ raped women are attended to. They treated me and gave me medication and the doctor filled in the form. I did not know exactly what was going on…."

The doctor's note/ examination states that it was an attempted rape and assault. T does not remember what happened as she was unconscious. The other report says that she was given medication for women who have been raped. Both these reports are contradictory. Everything is just a mess. The worst thing is that if the doctor's note is not clear, it makes it hard for the matter to be successfully prosecuted in court, as the court is guided by the medical report.

Two days later when I was at the hospital to see T, she was in Maxillo section, where people with face injuries are treated. During the bashing, her teeth were knocked in and badly dented, and she needed surgery. The day before she was discharged at the hospital, her mother was there to pick her up, but she had no money. I offered her some, still traumatized by the whole scenario. One Christmas Eve, the rapist was arrested by the police, and her mother helped the police to pick him up. Her perpetrator is now out on a R3000 bail.

T is lucky enough that her mother is on her side, she knew what happened and gave her daughter support. The other two survivors did not have such luck. One lives with her grandmother who is in her 70s and frail. Her mother lives in a different place and does not even know whether her teenage daughter goes to school or not. She had only her other lesbian friends to turn to in order to talk about the rape, and for support.

The other lives with her HIV positive aunt who has her own problems to deal with.

The problem that lesbian/ complainants /hate-crime survivors are facing is that these rapists are people known to and trusted by them. It is further victimization and terror to keep on seeing the person who has raped you, freely roaming the streets when you, as the person violated, is living in a state of fear, of not knowing whether he will assault you again. Out of the three cases reported, but none of the complainants know what the outcome will be, as they cannot afford private lawyers and only depending on state representation.

With all these interviews, I have realized that rape is rape, lesbian bashing is gender-based violence. Women are raped, bashed, evicted from homes. Others are left with emotional scars forever, whether they report these crimes or not. Media people and journalists have become vultures, and simply want to report about these crimes as an issue of interest, as a sensation. Major steps needs to be taken to combat gender and sexual-based violence, as our community is left with a lot of trauma, physical and emotional scars from within. Others become infected with HIV as a result of this crime, and their lives are shortened severely. This can make one regret being a lesbian. Yet it is not a crime to be lesbian, it is a human right! As women, as lesbian, as community members, we need to lobby against gender-based violence in order to combat these crimes before it is too late.

The matter (T's case) went to Protea Court in Soweto on the 16th February 2005 where the defendant requested for the legal aid representive at his court appearance. She will be notified of the trial of the similar by the police in charge in due course since the matter is pending.

* Names of the complainants were changed to protects their identity
ALL have not received proper counseling. After effects/ psychological effects might cause further damage in their lives e.g. withdrawal symptoms, nightmares, etc.

Currently T's case is pending.