“Perpetrators get to live their best lives because the worst the university does is expel them. Survivors end up attending classes with their rapists. That is completely absurd.
“A lot more needs to be done in terms of safety on campus: in travel systems‚ unisex residences. A regulation needs to be out in place‚ not just for women but also gender non-conforming people‚ homosexuals‚ individuals. Lesbian women and gay people are targeted on campus‚ corrective rape happens all the time‚ we know this‚” Khanyile said.
In her view‚ the country’s violent past indicated that “something has happened to us as a country that we need to recover from. The violence in schools is shocking‚ teachers getting stabbed. It says a lot about who we are as a people. We need to start a process of healing and actually learn new ways of doing things.”
Social media campaigns like #MeToo‚ #MenAreTrash and #TotalShutDown had a long-term impact. “Hashtags are impactful. Something is happening on the ground; women are getting more enlightened on their rights‚ their own agency and saying no‚” she said.
She cited as an example an incident in which a video of a University of Fort Hare student violently kicking a woman was immediately followed up by a group of female protesters who took him to task for his actions.
“I was so proud of that. Women are taking things into their own hands and understanding that we are our own keepers.