LETTER: Women, you are on your own: no-one will protect you
A nurse was killed by her partner. How many times had she gone to the police and courts asking to be protected?
09 February 2022 - 15:57
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The late Sue Lloyd-Roberts, a veteran multi-award-winning BBC journalist who died in 2015, asked a disturbing question in her must-read book, The War On Women. “Are women doomed to be just another hopeless cause, and if so, why?”
This is a question President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to answer in the past, but must address in his 2022 state of the nation (Sona) speech. The recent Tembisa hospital tragedy, where a nurse was shot dead by her partner, is a daily reminder that women will continue to be another “hopeless cause”.
Gender-based violence is just a term. It means nothing when men see women as shooting targets. You beat your partner into a pulp, and if you are unlucky you are arrested. But you'll be released within 48 hours so you can go back and beat her again.
Court interdict and protection orders are a waste of time. The only woman taken seriously by politicians, the police and our courts is a dead one. If your partner punches you, it is considered a minor incident. You must die before your voice is heard by the criminal justice system.
This nurse was killed in her sanctuary, her place of work. How many times has she gone to the police and courts asking to be protected? Families, especially black families, tend to choose the husband’s side. Women, you are on your own; no-one will save or protect you.
As Roxanne Gray says in her New York Times best-seller Not That Bad: “What is it like to live in a culture where it often seems like it is a question of when, not if, a woman will encounter some kind of sexual violence?”
Dr Lucas Ntyintyane Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Women, you are on your own: no-one will protect you
A nurse was killed by her partner. How many times had she gone to the police and courts asking to be protected?
The late Sue Lloyd-Roberts, a veteran multi-award-winning BBC journalist who died in 2015, asked a disturbing question in her must-read book, The War On Women. “Are women doomed to be just another hopeless cause, and if so, why?”
This is a question President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to answer in the past, but must address in his 2022 state of the nation (Sona) speech. The recent Tembisa hospital tragedy, where a nurse was shot dead by her partner, is a daily reminder that women will continue to be another “hopeless cause”.
Gender-based violence is just a term. It means nothing when men see women as shooting targets. You beat your partner into a pulp, and if you are unlucky you are arrested. But you'll be released within 48 hours so you can go back and beat her again.
Court interdict and protection orders are a waste of time. The only woman taken seriously by politicians, the police and our courts is a dead one. If your partner punches you, it is considered a minor incident. You must die before your voice is heard by the criminal justice system.
This nurse was killed in her sanctuary, her place of work. How many times has she gone to the police and courts asking to be protected? Families, especially black families, tend to choose the husband’s side. Women, you are on your own; no-one will save or protect you.
As Roxanne Gray says in her New York Times best-seller Not That Bad: “What is it like to live in a culture where it often seems like it is a question of when, not if, a woman will encounter some kind of sexual violence?”
Dr Lucas Ntyintyane
Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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