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Shelby Forte Ap English Literature Troy 6 March 2014 Gendered Inequality and Violence:Rural v. Urban South Africa

A major issue in South Africa is the occurrences of gendered violence in both the rural and urban areas of the country. Violence and belittling towards women has been around since the early days of Africa, and though South Africa has progressed quickly compared to the rest of Africa, little has changed about the way that women in South Africa are viewed as being lesser than a man. This paper will discuss the severity and progression of gendered violence in the rural part of South Africa to the urban. Living in a rural area in South Africa means that the communities are most likely affected by HIV and AIDS. In rural towns, one out of five girls first sexual encounters are brought on forcefully because girls are known to be vulnerable, weak and uneducated. These forceful encounters dont just infect the girls, but fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS through the village. But recently, as men are more prone to contact AIDS and HIV from multiple wives, theyre starting to get physically weaker, meaning that the women of the tribes are having to pick up the slack, leaving the man's masculinity threatened. This forms aggression and violent action in the male. For a male with a strong traditional background, having to be taken care of by a woman, provokes emotions of being a failure in him, creating anger, anger that gets directed at his caretaker(s), in the form as emotional, physical and sexual abuse (1). Along with the

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reason of threatened masculinity, women are more likely to be abused because they are thought of as easy targets because they believe a man has the right to beat his wife. There are also the brave ones that believe they have the right to refuse sexual intercourse with their husband and disobey the husbands wishes. The consent of these forceful attacks in the mans mind go back to the early days where it was believed by most that a man was dominant to a woman. In early days, the theory of men being dominant was legitimized by a system of a chief, a head male and an elder male. In this system, women had close to no rights, though they could gain more power though making connections with other women.(2) In the early 1900s, the economic system started determining how high up a person was in a system . This encouraged men to marry as many wives as they could, so they could control more laborers and have more products than were normally produced. The more products that were being output, the more economic wealth the man was able to process. With all the economic profits, men then thought they could become the new chief by challenging the old one. This demanded a degree of monogamy, even though women themselves were not really compliant. This belief and tradition of tribes through the ages has given more power and entitlement to rural African men, believing they can do anything to a woman and have no consequences.(1) In turn, the only one who sees anything wrong with that, are the women, who believe they do not have the power, intelligence, or skill to stop them. Masculinity in these small communities is often based on how they can control their spouse, putting women at risk, even without physical violence. It is the culture that these men grew up with that shapes how they act and how dominant they are, and in turn, its the cultural conformity that causes a woman in a rural area to come off as vulnerable

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and dependent, making them easy targets then and even now still(3). Despite the democratic transformation in South Africa, and the sophisticated feeling that the urban environment in modern South Africa, not much is different from rural. As the risk of HIV is growing everyday. In most in most urban areas, there are preventions for HIV, and they are more accessible, but its not rare to see HIV prevention tools only in high income areas, leaving the lower half without anything. (4) Its also more common in lower income areas to see more sexual violence and hostility towards to women that live there and where most end up in homicide. In recent studies, Africa is known to have the most female homicides in the world with 8.8 homicides per 100,000 women 14 and older. But even this number cannot be completely accurate, as few female homicides are reported. Because few homicides have been reported, its difficult for the police and investigators involved in these cases to come to conclusions about the homicide. This makes it easier for the murder to be unsolved and the murderer to go free. The reason that the men feel this entitlement is the same as in the rural areas. Its about the culture and the way that these men were brought up, watching other males be abusive to women. Its often a misconception that with the progression of South Africa into a more sophisticated light, that the traditions and the way that the South Africans act have changed along with the city. Moving to a democratic system leaves some men with feelings that their masculinity is being threatened, because now women were gaining rights that didnt originally belong to them, including a right to education and a right to vote for their leaders. Traditional men of South Africa also believe democracy can be a gateway to a society in which women make all the money and thus, in becoming the providers, leave men in a position of vulnerability, a position

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that would go against tradition and a position they are scared of. The threatening of a man's masculinity, with all the culture of South Africa and what these men grew up into, typically tends to make him angry, which in turn, he takes his anger out on a woman because it is socially acceptable there. All though there have been some adaptations made behaviorally, nothing short of a miracle could fully change a culture, even if that culture includes making women feel below men and justifies abuse brought on by traditional South African males. Being in an urban setting though, some males who are guilty of sexual violence and possibly homicide towards women, have different accessibility to things to help them commit the crime. Most female homicides are committed through methods of strangulation by cords, or sheets, things that are accessible easiest in the city. Another method is blunt force trauma, mostly brought on by common bedroom objects, such as clocks and even lamps.(6) Along with the homicides, those who commit sexual violence against women have the aid of drugs such as ecstasy and other date rape drugs that can skew the view of a woman, leaving them to be raped, waking up not knowing what happened in the morning. The accessibility to these objects that are common to us, raises the number of female homicides and sexual violent acts. The accessibility to the amenities plus more, not only encourages it through the easy accessibility of the crime tools, but because the easy accessibility to tools and methods to get away with it, which include bribery, threats and as far as abuse to anyone who witnesses or hears the murder occurring. These methods are more dire to put into action because, in comparison to a rural village, there are actual police officers on duty in South Africa. An actual justice system is set up in the cities that a rural village might not have because theyre too small and

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still tend to stick with the systems of chiefs and the chiefs having the choice of to convict the offender, which usually doesnt happen because it has been part of their c ulture to demean women for hundreds of years. (4) In conclusion, while its not rare to hear about sexual violence in rural parts of South Africa, almost daily, they also dont have as many female homicides that occur in those parts. As in the urban environment, there are countless instances of sexual violence that are likely to report a female homicide out of anger or fear that the victim will go to the police with the crime and they will be put in jail because, unlike in the rural parts, the urban parts actually supply police officers and have more of a justice system more like the one of the United States, where crimes of those offences are punished more harshly. Along with the differences in the crime, the similarities are in the reason they do it. In the end, its all because these men have been brought up to believe they are superior to women. If a women gets rights or has too take on responsibilities that they werent originally given in their culture, it is justified in the males mind that it would be okay to get angry with the woman and do something to hurt or get rid of them. It makes them angry enough to hurt women most likely because they feel that the woman is abandoning years of culture and taking on roles that are defined as male specific in the past. This ends up threatening their masculinity, so they feel the need to assert their dominance, and believe this is the way to do it.

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1. Web.b.ebscohost.com. Voices of women teachers about gender inequalities and gender-based violence in rural South Africa, August 2012. web. March 6th 2014. 2. Web.b.ebscohost.com.Zulu Masculinities, Warrior Culture and Stick Fighting: Reassessing Male Violence and Virtue in South Africa, March 2012. web. March 6th 2014 3.Web.b.ebscohost.com. Male teachers talk about gender violence: Zulu men demand respect, Feburary 2009. Web. March 6th 2014. 4.Web. b. ebscohost.com. The effects of gender and socioeconomic status on youth sexual-risknorms: evidence from a poor urban community in South Africa. 2010. Web. March 6th 2014 5. Web.b. ebscohost.com. HIV prevention in favour of the choice-disabled in southern Africa: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. 2013. Web. March 6th 2014 6. Web.b.ebscohost.com. Female homicidal strangulation in urban South Africa. 21 October 2008 .Web. March 6th 2014.

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RIPS. 1. Title: Female homicidal strangulation in urban South Africa Author: Shahnaaz Suffla Authors background:N/A Citation: Web.b.ebscohost.com. Female homicidal strangulation in urban South Africa. 21 October 2008 .Web. March 6th 2014. Synopsis: This research article tells about occurances and the likelihood of female homicide in the urban setting of urban South Africa. Along with that, it explores the reason that so many female homicides occur, and how it relates to the past and how the past occurances of the people of South Africa can affect it. It talks how to prevent the homicides and how to change what modern people are doing wrong. Quote: Gender-based violence persists as a global public health problem. In 2000, there were an estimated 119,000 female homicides worldwide, for an overall ageadjusted rate of 8.8 per 100,000 population . Of these, the majority of deaths occurred in low- to middle-income countries, with the highest number of female homicides reported for the African Region, at a rate of 11.8 per 100, 000 population Explanation: This Quote is important because it shows just how much of a problem violence, especially against females, actually is. It also shows how little law is enforced in South Africa, because, according to the study, out of all the female homicides, the majority of them rest in Africa, and even with that, those are the only ones that are reported. It is thought that there could be hundreds more cases of female homicide.

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Quote: Many findings reported here are based on a small numbers of cases that limit the conclusions that can be made Explanation: This shows how little cases are reported to the police in South Africa. Whether it be fear or just not wanting to get involved, theses cases dont get reported and it limits the information that the police gets. This can keep the police to coming to conclusions and in the long run, can let a murder go free. Quote: This study reports that female homicidal strangulation in urban South Africa ranges from 1.71/100 000 in Durban (2003) to 0.70/100 000 in Johannesburg (2003). These rates, especially the former, are high compared to the few reported for other settings, such as the combined overall strangulation rates (for males and females) of 0.17/100,000 for Jordan and the 1.1/100 000 reported for the United States [28,42]. Explanation: This shows how many female homicides there are compared to both rural areas in Africa and to the United states. Its unusually high in the last few years in the comparative run and this, along with other things, shows how much of a problem it really is.

Article: Male teachers talk about gender violence: Zulu men demand respect Author: Deevia Bhana Author Background: Professor of Education at University of KwaZulu-Natal whose interests and research topics range from gender and early childhood sexualities, violence and youth, and HIV/AIDS education. Citation: Web.b.ebscohost.com. Male teachers talk about gender violence: Zulu men demand respect, Feburary 2009. Web. March 6th 2014.

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Synopsis: This paper is about how to men in rural South African tribes were brought up. This paper explores the culture and traditional rights given to a man in the Zulu tribe and how it can affect everyone else in this tribe. This article compares and contrasts the behavior of men now, to how they were back then, and highlights why the changes have happened. It also highlights the role women play to these traditional men and how they came to be known as the vulnerable, submissive ones. Quote: In traditional rural South Africa, male power was legitimized by a system in which the chief and his headmen and elder men sat in descending order of authority with exclusive rights to communal land (Sideris 2004). In this system women had few rights although they had a power base that was generated in relationships with other women. (pg.3) Explanation: This quote is important because it shows that women not having power dated back into the early days of Africa. Women had very little power back then, so its no surprise that today, the more traditional men continue to treat women how they were treated back then. Quote: HIV/AIDS has had an impact on traditional Zulu male scripts of multiple partners, placing men and masculinities under scrutiny and critique. Women themselves are aggressive in their critique of men who infect others with the disease; this increases male self-doubt about multiple sexual partners (Hunter 2007). Womens economic mobility and the context of a rights discourse is thus infiltrating Zulu masculinity. At the time, we are also seeing men challenging women in order to bolster their own power. In this context, women in rural areas shoulder huge domestic responsibilities and those

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who contest gendered roles are often under threat to violations including physical violence. (pg. 4) Explanation: This quote is important because it explains how the men in rural villages are getting weaker and weaker due to the spread of HIV and AIDS. Because they are getting weaker, women are having to step up to complete jobs that are traditionally male only. Its important because while this should be a big, amazing step for women equality, it just leads to aggression from the males and domestic abuse. Quote: In a country where violence against women and girls is frequently an assertion of male reproduction of power, the male teachers in this study show how difficult it is to celebrate the more positive male responses to changing gender relations in South Africa. The social structures and cultural representations that sustain relations of domination and perpetuate power while under scrutiny within the context of HIV/AIDS and a new discourse of womens rights, remains strong in shaping male teachers ideas about violence against women. (pg.7) Explanation: This is very important because it says that domestic violence is a way for African men to assert dominance, but at the same time, teachers are desperately trying to teach about the good things males have done for the country. It makes this harder to teach because the young boys learning in class can only see what their father does to their mother and figures its socially acceptable and restarts the cycle of abuse when they get married.

Article: Voices of women teachers about gender inequalities and gender-based violence in rural South Africa.

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Author: Naydene de Lange Authors background: N/A Citation: . Web.b.ebscohost.com. Voices of women teachers about gender inequalities and gender-based violence in rural South Africa, August 2012. web. March 6th 2014. Synopsis: This article shows what gender violence looks like from the eyes of women teachers. It explores the different types of abuse in a relationship, typically in rural South Africa. It also explores the way that this king of abuse can leave lasting impacts on the women having to endure the domestic and sexual violence. Quote: Women teachers and girls are vulnerable to aggressive sexual advances from male learners and male educators within the school and also males outside the school (e.g. gangs and taxi drivers). (pg.4) Explanation: This is a very important part to understanding gendered violence in school. Mostly in rural South Africa, it is not rare to see advances by predators in school. The male students see this and think its alright to behave this way. The young boys take this knowledge with them outside the school and commit even more heinous crimes against women, but it still viewed as socially acceptable. Quote: Gender-based violence is a reality in many societies and is linked to the spread of HIV and AIDS. There have been numerous studies that have attempted to acquire an understanding of the breadth and depth of the issues around gender-based violence. (pg. 1) Explanation: This quote explains how much gendered violence is a problem in schools in rural South Africa. Its important to know this in the context of the paper and

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understand that its just not at home, it occurs in the form of bullying in South African schools. Quote: The importance of not ignoring gender-based violence and its connectedness to HIV and AIDS in a school context is underscored by the fact that schools are often presented as if they were not sites of power and struggle, but rather places of rational instruction, engagement and action (pg. 4) Explanation: This is an important quote because it shows that in some schools in rural South Africa tend to ignore the gendered violence in schools. By ignoring it, most boys who engage in it, are encouraged to do it because it makes them feel more powerful.