The #justiceforcwecwe movement and sexual assault awareness month
Good morning/afternoon/evening, you beautiful people!
I heard about CweCwe's story I believe at the beginning of April through TikTok and it was so heartbreaking to hear. If you are unfamiliar with her story. In summary, a 7-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at her primary school and there are yet to be any arrests made. This little girl was also expelled by the school, instead of being supported. It is quite saddening to see just how broken and corrupt the leaders who we have put in power have become. 💔
It felt so familiar because I am aware of the staggering amount of boys and girls who are hurt at school. A place that is supposed to be a safe environment for teaching, learning and growing. I am so proud of her for speaking up because so many victims are threatened into silence and internalise shame for what happened to them. Experiencing violence, including sexually assault is never the victim's fault. It has never been about what the victim was wearing or how they behaved. As seen here, a child in school uniform is by no means provocative.
For a while, I did not know what to say or how to respond. I signed the petition quietly and hoped that activists with bigger platforms would do something that would result in bigger change. I later realised just how wrong I was. Holding the government and institutions responsible is my job as a citizen. Every little action or inaction has weight and a ripple effect. Be it signing the petition and encouraging your peers to do the same or joining a march. It all matters.
Importantly we must never stop talking about this and never stop putting pressure on the authorities to bring justice to CweCwe and her family. This is so much more than just CweCwe, it's also about who she represents. All the girls and boys who have been hurt where they should have been safe. Getting justice for her, represents hope for so many. I fear that many victims keep quiet because they fear that the authorities will not take them seriously and that the community will judge and ostracise them. While we cannot change the authorities response currently, we as a community can change how we treat victims and how we treat perpetrators.
Victims should be taken seriously and helped to heal. Perpetrators on the other hand should be shamed, shunned and face the full wrath of the law. Naming and shaming criminals should be normalized!
This story is still on-going and more than ever, South Africa, let's not let this story die. Not just for Cwecwe but for every boy and girl who has experienced sexual abuse. With sexual abuse being so unfortunately common, chances are we know of a victim personally or have been victimised ourselves.
Change starts with us not shaming the victim but rather shaming and scorning the perpetrators. Justice begins with us making demands to authorities and showing them that we won't back down. We will not forget! Just as our votes and support have put them on their high horses, our votes and lack of support can take them down as well! Politicians have become too complacent and believe that the bare minimum and false promises will keep them safe and maintain their heavy pockets.
Government cannot continue to sleep while our people are crying rivers of tears and oceans of blood. The riversbanks are flooded and overflowing with the stories and pain of millions. Scars that survivors hide because society deemed surviving a crime and instead deemed a criminal worthy of walking our streets.
I do not know how this case will end but what I do want is for us to believe every little girl, boy, woman or man who has suffered and endured this abuse. They have endured enough! Let us rather be a safe space for them to heal.
Happy Freedom Day, South Africa🇿🇦! My beautiful rainbow nation that has come so far but still has so much further to go. It is now up to us as the next generation to go the distance because there is still so much more freedom to be acquired. ✊🏾
All my love ❤️
Ruthy
Question of the week: what more do you think that we can do as citizens to support Cwecwe and help serve justice?
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