When parents send their children to schools, they are putting them under the direct stewardship of the principal and his team of educators.
Parents, many of whom have to run the home and also be breadwinners, expect their children to be in good hands while at school. Therefore, it is alarming to find that there are a number of rapists among those entrusted with being custodians of children.
Sexual violence is rampant at schools, according to a report due for release this month by the international human rights agency Human Rights Watch.
The United States agency will release a damning report entitled ”Scared at School” which shows high levels of violence, rape and sexual harassment of girls at South African schools by educators and male classmates.
The report found that girls throughout the country are abused and raped in school toilets, fields, empty classrooms and hallways, in hostels and dormitories.
The findings in the report echos the many stories one hears or reads about with alarming regularity. There are gruesome examples and one does not have to embellish this editorial with the horrifying details.
The grim reality that schoolgirls and women are under attack from vile and despicable men in our society ought to be of grave concern to the government, education officials, parents and society at large.
In a country with a constitution strong on human rights and reconciliation, one is in favour of rehabilitation and rapists repenting. Such an approach seems politically correct, but what of the victim who must daily deal with the recurring nightmare of the time her body was violated?
Is justice served when the culprits -the few who are caught – are put behind bars, where they have a restricted lifestyle, while the victim is scarred for life?
Castrating the culprits, even hanging them, would not render justice to the victims. Sending petitions to President Thabo Mbeki or Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete may also be a futile exercise.
It is not the sole duty of the government and police to look after the citizens of South Africa; society should act as guardians, too, provided they do not take the law into there own hands.
Later this month, the US human rights agency will make recommendations on ways to assist the victim after the incident and suggest how parents, educators and victims can deal with the trauma of rape. This is useful after the incident, but as a nation we should grasp the bull by the horns and find ways to prevent would-be rapists from going ahead with the act. Parents should discuss sexual misconduct with their children, while educators and male learners should control their physical desires.
Schools should be places of safety, but even behind high walls and barbed wire, schoolgirls are under attack. Safety from the demons lurking in society is not guaranteed, no matter how good the security.
That is why society should be proactive and become more vigilant, looking out for girls and women in trouble, and offering assistance.
The government should pay serious attention to violence against children and women, and ensure that schools become safer, not playgrounds of terror.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg, April 2001.