Every woman should be able to walk the streets without fear of harassment or violence – this was the call sounded by more than 100 women who wore black to the Lingelethu West police station on Saturday to speak out against the country’s high crime levels.
The Women’s Month prayer meeting was organised by the Women’s Manyano from the United Methodist Church of Southern Africa’s Cape District.
Women needed to get out of their comfort zone and take action against crime, said Women’s Manyano president Mandilakhe Dyantyi.
“Our call of action to all men and police is to help free women from the shackles of abuse and fight this scourge with us.”
Women no longer felt free to walk the streets without fearing for their safety, she said.
“Before you leave the house, the only thing one thinks of is to hide your cellphone and wallet where no one can see them. You cannot put them in your handbag because you know it can be snatched.
“This has to change. We live in an abnormal society where children are raping, gender-based violence is at its peak, domestic violence rules. Today children are abusing elders. We are slaves. We are at war. But we are here today to say, enough is enough.”
Church spokesperson Thobeka Rhatya, said they were also concerned about the growing threat of extortion that saw businesses having to pay “protection fees”, and the prayer gathering would not be the last.
Lingelethu West police station ranked among the top-30 precincts in the country for murder, according to the SAPS national crime stats tracking reported crime from October to December last year.
Police chief Colonel Attwell Nodume praised the women for speaking out.
Sexual assaults, carjackings and house robberies were some of the most common crimes in the area, he said.
Lamenting the impact of alcohol on crime stats, he warned that some women were being raped while they were drunk.
“The sad part is that they will open a case but do not know who the perpetrator is because were raped while under the influence.”
He added that domestic violence often remained behind closed doors and went unreported, making it difficult to police.
