More than 40 per cent of women in South Africa have been raped, but only one rape in ten is reported.
Mariana
“When I was nine years old he made a woman of me.”
Name: Mariana
Age: 32
Phindi
“I just stood there, holding a pan of boiling water I was going to throw over him.”
Name: Phindi
Age: 42
Tanya
“No money, no food for the children, no diapers – just six children and another on the way.”
Name: Tanya
Age: 44
Gulnaz
“The man who threw the acid over me only spent six months in prison.”
Name: Gulnaz
Age: 43
Martha
“I have to have money so I can protect my child.”Name: Martha
Age: 14
It was dark. I learned that I could walk into the town centre to get something to eat and clean clothes but I always went back to the railway station. After a while I was arrested there and locked up. My father came and got me and took me back to Minya but I ran away again. I went back to the railway station and the boys and girls there. I was better off there.
I don’t know what the future holds.
Rafaela
“He’s changed. He’s a new man and I love him.”
Name: Rafaela
Age: 24
I broke up with him several times and went back to live with my mother, but I always went back to him. He was so full of regret, and I love him.
Bushra, Rihana, Parveen and Mary
“We woke up in a room filled with flames and smoke.”
Name: Bushra, Rihana, Parveen and Mary
Age: 16-23
Themba
“They called me a bloody lesbian and raped me.”
Name: Themba
Age: 29