#womenslivesmatter: Twitter outrage at disregard for SA rape victims
We thought the COVID-19 pandemic was the worst that could happen this year, but other atrocities are also surfacing.
The month of June got off to a turbulent start with a police officer suffocating an African-American man with his knee during an arrest sparking racial controversy in the United States (US); a young South African man making comments that disregard women and their rape trauma and a young woman encouraging other women to not report rape incidents.
#blacklivesmatter
No doubt you’ve come across the #blacklivesmatter tag accompanied by very graphic and shocking videos of the death of George Floydwhile he was being pinned down by a police officer after he allegedly paid with a fake $20 note.
Rape isn’t as important as death?
The inhumane treatment of Floyd sent shock waves across the world.
However, on South African soil, a young man has shown utter disregard for the women of our country who have been victims of sexual assault and rape. In reply to these victims sharing their stories on Twitter, he tweeted: “People are dying out there (America), now y’all bring up y’all rape story — like really?”
This created a frenzy on Twitter and women who already weren’t feeling safe enough to share their stories felt completely invalidated through one tweet.
But in typical Twitter fashion, this man got major backlash for being so inconsiderate towards these women. And after realising how much outrage he has caused, he claimed that someone had his phone and that he wasn’t the one who tweeted. Nobody bought his story to say the least.
If you don’t report rape, it never happened…
Another South African youth who got attention for the wrong reason was a teenage girl who seemed to have no sympathy when a friend of hers told her about her rape. She refused to believe her friend based on the fact that she did not tweet about the incident.
The Twitter streets proceeded to do what they do best and questioned her morals and values. The teenager added fuel to the fire and continued to act nonchalant about the comments headed her way.
The main thread in the Twitter comments was that she seemed to be an example of a female who belittles women who are rape victims and that “friends” like her contributes to the reason why women don’t report these crimes.
Throw away the rotten potatoes
Despite these individuals’ insensitive utterances on Twitter, the collective outcry has proven without doubt doubt that if we stand together we can create a barrier that’s unbreakable.