Pictured: Cuernavaca (Mexico), September 15. University students march to protest the femicides of a Spanish student, Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera, and of four other women students. Signs read (in Spanish) “Are you tired of hearing about it? We’re tired of living it” and “We are the shout of those who are no longer here.”
‘Am I next?’ is the question in the minds of all South African women as we currently face a scourge in gender-based violence and femicide here. You can never know if you might be the next victim.
In a space of two months, eight bodies belonging to eight wonderful women, mothers, sisters, friends, colleagues, members of communities, were found and positively identified by their grieving families. These women were going about their day, not knowing that it would be the last time they said anything to their children, families, friends. Not knowing that this was one of the last moments they shared with their loved ones.
The amount of crime in South Africa is appalling. And as it stands, the government is doing next to nothing to protect the women of our country. As a communist I stand for what is right for all, equal rights for women and men. Every person has the right to safety and security.
Currently the women of South Africa do not feel safe. We are not safe at home, we are not safe going for a jog, we are not safe driving our own cars. We are not safe at the shopping malls. We are not safe at work.
We have heard it all: condemnations, putting together of task teams, deploying the army. None of this is actually aimed at putting me at ease and making me feel safe as a woman. This is just to show that the government is ‘doing something’ about the situation. But does it prevent the next victim from suffering the same fate?
As a communist I feel that communism is the most effective solution to the never-ending crisis of crime. Criminals would not need to commit all of these heinous crimes if they were not greedy. Greedy for money and power. As a woman and a communist, I do believe that we can end this cycle.
—Comrade in South Africa
Read more about the material basis of sexism here
Read The Communist Fight against Sexism here
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