“At least I wasn’t raped” – African Edition

Halala Africa Halala! A continent known for its cascading waterfalls and picturesque landscapes. Only in Africa will you hear the phrase, “At least they didn’t rape you” accompanied by a sigh of relief. Why should women be indebted to men for NOT being violated? Why have we compelled our beguiling queens and matriarchs to live in such inhumane conditions? We reside in a society where women are grateful to escape with their lives and yet atrocities such a RAPE should not be taking place to begin with.

Africans LOVE to talk about “Ubuntu” and the richness in our cultures and societies, yet they ignore the chasms that exists between men and women with each passing day. What baffles me is how these men continue to be tone deaf to women’s gut wrenching screams and ignore the pain etched on women’s faces each time they pry their legs apart and “penetrate” their genital or anal regions (Gravelin et al., 2019).

No one will describe war to you like an African, you see their fathers and forefathers  before them were soldiers and yet they fail to protect their sisters’ chambers of secrets, instead they breach them with such ferocity their ancestors are probably turning in their graves.

Africa Day for those of you who are unaware is a day that commemorates the union of African nations and falls on the 25th of May every year. As political as it may seem, most of you might have seen numerous posts on your social media particularly of the African continent. I for one was privy to witness men posting their wives, daughters and sisters with their kinky hair and their goddess-like features (a “true representation of Africa“). My question therefore is, if you love women so much in public, why do you defile them in private?

Approximately 687 134 865 women are in Africa right now (countrymeters, 2021) and at least once in their life will their heart skip a beat when they walk past a group of men regardless of whether it is day or night. Hold your breath, before you try and argue, here are is an article with all the stats (World Population Review, 2021).

This afternoon on a particularly deserted part of my walk, I passed a man, then a group of 4 men, then a man.
On all 3 occasions I muted my headphones, kept my head down, gripped my phone, senses heightened.
This is what it’s like for us, going for a walk in broad daylight.

— Emma (@emma__jayne14) March 8, 2021

If memory serves me right, there was a certain South African Minister of Justice who passed a bill about rape in marriages and you people referred to your wives your property. Africa you are not doing right by your female counterparts. Liyayangisa!

On behalf of women everywhere I’d like to request megaphones since our voices are muffled…actually who am I kidding, men rape infants and still don’t see the error of their foul ways. I’m a dog lover but some of you need to be put down.

Since we are here, just a friendly reminder,

1.You are responsible for your actions, not your parents not your upbringing, YOU.

2.”Just one time” Sir are you dyslexic? How many times do you need to be told no?

3.“You should have screamed” is by far the most useless sentence I’ve ever heard and you should honestly be ashamed of yourself if this is something you’ve said in any rape-related scenario.

In case I was misunderstood, allow me to reiterate, men are the problem. Men are the pandemic.

You talk about your strong black mother and in the same breath have the audacity refer to us as the weaker sex.

Does rape make you feel like more of a man  cause you never got to see what a real one looks like? Women don’t feel safe in their own homes, in the workplace, heck we can’t even walk to a post office anymore.

Yeyi madoda lalelani, It’s not a woman’s job to make you feel like a man, we can’t make you something you are not.

Today, I run the risk of offending all men but if that’s what it will take to get at least one of you to listen then my work here is done.

References

Countrymeters. (2021). Current African population [online]. Available at: Africa population (countrymeters.info) [Accesssed 15^th June 2021]

Gravelin,C.R. Biernat, M. Bucher,C. E. (2019). Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors [online]. Available at: Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors (ku.edu) [Accessed 27^th may 2021]

World Population Review. (2021). Rape Statistics by country 2020 [online]. Available at: Rape Statistics By Country 2021 (worldpopulationreview.com) [Accessed 4^th June 2021]