Violence against women visual campaign

By now we should all be familiar with the definition of rape. It is the unlawful and intentional sexual advances on another person, without their consent. The nature of rape culture goes beyond the very act itself and encompasses an environment in which the societal psyche is receptive of the violence embedded in rape. It must be noted that rape knows no gender.

The said environment is inherently “rapey” and grants men an uncensored hold on a woman’s body ranging from cat calling, to how women are expected to dress, how to conduct themselves, and women not feeling safe enough to walk by themselves. Women being in perpetual danger have led to men accompanying them wherever they go in order to give the illusion of safety. This has erroneously come to be accepted as a romantic gesture, but on the contrary, it is just another manifestation of the danger that men represent. If anything, this gesture indicates how men protect women in whom they have right of ownership. The supposed protection has nothing to do with addressing the danger that men are, but rather just protecting their narrow interests, in the female body that they ‘’own’’.

The Transformation and Culture portfolio of Law House started a visual campaign on the 10^th of May 2019, sponsored by the Centre for Human Rights. The idea of having a campaign on rape culture firstly came about as a way to creatively advertise the seminar held on the 13^th of May 2019 and secondly, to have visuals that tackled the stigma surrounding rape. The idea was also to have the issue of rape culture discussed and be part of an ongoing conversation, thereby creating awareness on this issue.

During the week of 29 July to 2 August 2019 Law House collaborated with the Department of Library Services by showcasing these visuals on level 3 of the Merensky 2 Library. Law House chose to collaborate with this Department due to their accessibilty to the majority of students. Rape culture and gender based violence is a difficult but crucial topic. Awareness has to be spread, and the best way to spread this awareness was through the Merensky 2 Library. Through this collaboration Law House was able to successfully create awareness regarding the campaign and its importance. This visual campaign aimed to create awareness and an ongoing conversation, and radical change regarding rape culture and gender based violence. We cannot live in a constitutional dispensation whilst women are being subjected to such heinous crimes. This collaboration had the intention of spreading the message, and through the UP Library Services’ social media platforms, as well as Merensky 2 Library, we were able to spread our message.

View the photographs of the visual campaign. (Link https://www.facebook.com/pg/UPLibraryServices/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156453341291705)