1 in 9 Silent Protest

"72 500 rapes were reported in South Africa last year. Only 1 in 9 rapes were reported to the police and of those only 4% were successfully prosecuted. My silence affirms my solidarity with survivors silenced by rape and sexual violence. Freedom of Speech is denied to victims of sexual violence. I call on all men to break the cycle of sexual violence."
          - Message on 2011 Silent Protest T-shirt

Seeing as this blog is (or at least claims to be) about life as a Rhodes student, I thought I would break away from my normal joking/playful posts and say a bit about the 1 in 9 Silent Protest that took place at Rhodes on 15 April 2011. For those of you who do not know about 1 in 9, it is a movement against sexual violence and rape. The focus of the campaign is the fact that so many women - and indeed men - are too ashamed or afraid to speak out about the sexual violence or abuse that they have undergone. Participation can be in one of four forms:

1. Rape survivors: these brave women wear T-shirts telling the world that they are rape survivors who have spoken out, and encourage other survivors to do the same.
2. Silent protestors: these female participants wear T-shirts explaining about the protest. They have their mouths sealed with duct tape at the beginning of the day, and have to spend 12 hours without speaking, drinking or eating to show solidarity with those who are silenced by rape.
3. Men in solidarity: male participants wear T-shirts explaining about the protest and encouraging other men to speak out about rape and to stop the cycle of sexual violence.
4. Women in solidarity: femal lecturers who cannot be silenced for a day or students with health problems wear T-shirts similar to the men in solidarity.

This year was the first time I had taken part in the silent protest, and to say it was an eye-opener would be an understatement. The day began in the Great Hall, where T-shirts were handed out and speeches were given by those running the campaign and by some rape survivors. We were then taped and sent out into the world to live as silent women for a day.
Surprisingly, not eating and drinking was not as difficult as I'd expected. The tape was distinctly uncomfortable, and being unable to communicate made lectures and tutorials far more difficult than usual. As someone who rarely shuts up, I found it strange to have to keep my thoughts to myself throughout the day.

At midday a "die-in" was held in the library quad. Similar to the "sit-ins" staged in many protests, this consisted of the protestors lying, silent and unmoving, in the quad for about an hour. For me, this was the most challenging part of the entire process. I had forgotten to bring a jersey and the concrete floor was freezing cold. I closed my eyes, feeling tired, hungry and miserable, and tried to focus on the reasons that I was taking part in this protest.

What are those reasons, you may ask? I have no direct or personal experience with rape or sexual abuse; I have not undergone it and none of my friends or family have told me that they have undergone it. But during the protest last year I saw one of the girls from my res wearing a rape survivor shirt. I was shocked and horrified that such a beautiful, bubbly and fun girl had been through such a hellish experience, and to realise that someone you know has been raped changes it from an abstract idea into a real and terrifying prospect. It was because of her that I decided to take part this year.

At the end of the day a march was performed down High Street to the cathedral, where the silence was broken and we were allowed to remove the tape. One girl stood up to speak. She told us that she had been a silence protestor all day, but that now she was ready to tell people that she was actually a rape survivor who had been too afraid to speak out. The storm of applause that greeted her words just went to show that all the support she needed was right there.

Those of you who know me well also know that I am not generally a sensitive or empathetic person. Photos of starving children in Northern Africa rouse no emotions in me. But to sit in a room full of people and hear these brave women speaking about the horrors of rape, and how they had managed to survive the ordeal, affected me in ways that I never thought it would. I am proud to have taken part in the protest this year, and I encourage all Rhodes students to take part next year.