WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE VICTIMS?

In the wave of xenophobic violence that swept across South Africa in the past weeks, more than 50 people have died, hundreds are injured, and thousands displaced. While the perpetrators of the xenophobic violence in South Africa have not differentiated based on gender or age in their attacks on foreigners, there is a gender perspective to xenophobia getting lost in the midst of the horror. There have been reports of rape in the midst of the general perpetration of xenophobic violence. Rape in conflict situations serves to dominate and tame not only the women survivors who are its immediate victims, but also all the men that are socially connected to them by delivering the message that they are not strong enough to protect their women. Rape can be a political tool of xenophobia; or an act of opportunistic criminal violence against a woman because of her gender, under the guise of xenophobia. It is likely that many xenophobia-related rapes are unreported.
LETS REPORT THESE INCIDENCES TO THE AUTHORITIES SO THAT THESE INNOCENT PEOPLE COULD GET HELP.