#RUReferenceList: When the victim is victimised

These are the appalling responses to rape survivors who choose to not remain silent. At Rhodes University in Grahamstown, protests erupted after a list of alleged sexual offenders was published on Facebook on Sunday.

The list names a number of men who are alleged to have committed acts of rape on campus. It appears to be a demand for justice or a meaningful recourse for survivors of sexual violence at the institution.The #RUReferenceList is testimony to the failures of government, society and higher education institutions to do more to mete out punishment to the aggressor. Rhodes University students say the process of reporting sexual violence at the institution shames survivors and protects perpetrators. 

Cries for a better system which protects the survivor and shames the perpetrator have gone unheeded. Statistics on Rape Crisis' website indicate that the processing of rape cases is wholly inadequate. A total of 62 649 sexual offence cases were reported in South Africa between 2013 and 2014. Only 8174 of these cases reached our courts. With a mere 5484 convictions.I do not believe any woman would cry wolf. To admit that one has been sexually violated takes a certain kind of courage.Yet instead of being provided with support, women are being questioned about whether they were drunk at the time of the incident and whether their clothing had enticed the perpetrator.

No man has the right to force himself on a woman. More needs to be done to punish the criminal and not the survivor.As students called for justice, police were brought in to control the crowds on Wednesday.As has become the norm at student protests over the last year, there were clashes. A Rhodes University student described it as the "most horrific experience".She accuses police of targeting students for taking a stance against rape. The men in blue - who have taken an oath to serve and protect - fired teargas and rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse protestors and silence them.

A video has been released of three female students in the back of a police van - one desperately gasping for air as she suffered a panic attack.The video also shows Rhodes University vice chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela repeatedly pleading with police to release the student.His pleas fell on deaf ears as the stone-cold faced officers merely continued to reverse their vehicle down the road away from the crowds.Watching these scenes unfold on my computer screen left me angry. I respect our men in blue. Many go above and beyond the call of duty to serve and protect. But the officers in the video lacked humanity and in my opinion do not deserve the uniform many others proudly wear.

It begs the question - why are students who are protesting rape culture being thrown into the back of a police van like hardened criminals when those accused of rape are left to continue their lives with no action taken against them?What a woman wears and how much she chooses to drink is not the problem. Rapists are.

How did society convince us to protect ourselves from rape instead of convincing men to respect a woman when she says no? This issue matters.

- Written by Laila Majiet, a member of the Jacaranda FM News team.