Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, in the Graduate Program in Gender Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I confirm that an external editor has been used and that my supervisor was informed of my editor's identity and details. It is submitted for the degree Master of Arts in Gender Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
None of the current work has previously been submitted for a degree or examination at any other university. The intent of this dissertation is to expose the gendered experiences of rape victims, based on the idea that while the purpose of rape laws should be to protect rape victims, in many circumstances the legal process results in disempowering experiences for victims , especially women. . One reason for the marginalization of rape victims could be that women are still considered second-class citizens.
I am grateful and truly grateful to my partner, McDonald Kambuwa and my special friends Angela Zeleza, Faith Kachimera, George Naphambo, Veronica Fletcher, Thenjiwe Mbayiwa, Ongezwa Mbele, Tapiwa Nkhoma and Ethel Kansawa who encouraged and supported me throughout this process. has. always offered their ears for me to vent as well as the kindest words in the most difficult times. This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Christine and Samson Kakhobwe, who gave me the opportunity to study and who I know went out of their way to make this process as easy as possible, and to my siblings, Nthanda, Penelope , Gregory, Eugenia, Edwina and my two nieces Millika and Dalitso.
The accused admits visiting the complainant's father on several occasions at the complainant's family home while he was stationed in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Swaziland in the early 1980s. After her return from Swaziland to South Africa, the complainant rarely resumed contact with the accused during the period 1998 until the time of the alleged rape. The incident in question is said to have happened on the night of November 2, 2005 at the house of the accused in Johannesburg.
The defendant claims that they woke the victim up at her request, and both parties eventually retreated to the bedroom of the defendant where they had "consensual sex." During the period of the alleged rape, the complainant did not shout or mark the accused as she allegedly froze due to shock. The concept of rape is tainted, not only because of the heinousness of the crime, but also because it is a crime whose definition is narrow and contained to suit patriarchal interests.
As in the appellant's case, there appears to have been little regard for the plight of those already infected. By using a sexual history, it is implied that the character or credibility of the complainant has been called into question.
These manifestations of prejudice unfortunately find their way into rape laws, although it is always claimed that the rights of all individuals are said to be important. Inadvertently or not, it seems like the court is suggesting that based on character, some rape claims should be deemed not to need attention, and I question whether that is really fair. As Artz and Smyhte (2007) point out, it is imperative that instead of simply defining rape in legal terms, a further step must be taken to give rape a social meaning.
It's enough that women are horribly stereotyped, but it's even sadder to see rape victims become stigmatized because of the violence they've experienced, mostly because they're believed to have attracted that violence. Black women are the most disempowered and the victims of the most abuses, both privately and institutionally. The perversity of this system should be pointed out, but ignored, as it appears to be a system that seems to deliberately breed victims.
It is clear that even the courts are not aware of this, since in the trial of rape the court has never taken into consideration the threat of re-infection for the complainant, but the possibility of infection of the accused. Unfortunately, it's still a reflection of how many women believe they have to put themselves at risk, and it also makes treating rape along with HIV/AIDS even more challenging.
In general, it can be said that there are three types of struggles: against forms of domination (ethnic, social, religious); against forms of exploitation that separate individuals from what they produce; or against that which binds the individual to himself and in this way subjugates it to others (struggles against subjugation [assujettissement], against forms of subjectivity and subjugation). It is against struggles of "dominion" and "subjectivity" that women mainly face and that only greater agency can eradicate. According to Foucault, resistance is the process that allows us to analyze and question the discourses in which we engage and ultimately affects the way we define ourselves, but most of all our purpose and function in society , "the first step in the production of alternative forms of knowledge" (Weedon.
Foucault suggests that it is politically necessary to analyze power relations, "their historical formation", so that transformation can become possible, by becoming aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Foucault speaks of a resistance and power dichotomy, and interestingly, Reitan (2001) introduces the idea of rape as an "essentially contested concept". Both theories challenge the rigidity of any notion of sovereignty, with the opportunity to consider alternative truths.
The law's reluctance to broaden and expand its definition of rape to make it more relevant, so that it includes the vast possibilities in which rape does and can occur, puts women at a disadvantage, when their particular scenario of rape does not fits well enough with what the law expects. Feminist redefinitions of 'rape' have met with varying degrees of resistance, particularly from men who recognize that, under these new definitions, their own sexual behavior may qualify as rape.
It is common ground that the accused and the deceased father of the complainant were good friends. It appears that the appellant was aware of various rooms in the house of the accused. She then became aware of the fact that the complainant referred to the accused as malume.
The complainant told the accused that she was in a hurry to leave for Swaziland.
