In the thick of things: Time for women to take charge

Oscar winner and Benoni girl Charlize Theron threw her weight behind the fight against HIV and Aids.

Now what this United Nations messenger of peace embarked on, is a perfect example of what should happen in Women’s Month.

I salute women like you, Charlize.

This month, I reckon, should not be another month when women rest on their laurels and expect flowers and dinner invitations, while there are obviously so many ills facing them.

This period should also not be used to remind their men to pull out a chair for them at the restaurant or to open a car door for them.

Maybe a quick history check can help us how to see how this month could better be commemorated.

On August 9, 1956, 20 000 brave women, led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophie Williams and Frances Baard, staged a march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act (commonly known as the pass laws) of 1950.

They left bundles of petitions containing more than 100 000 signatures at Prime Minister J G Strijdom’s office doors.

Outside they stood silently for 30 minutes, many with their children on their backs.

The women sang a protest song that was composed in honour of the occasion: Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock).

In the 55 years since, the phrase (or its latest incarnation: “you strike a woman, you strike a rock”) has come to represent women’s courage and strength in South Africa.

This is what I’m talking about: women of courage can change the cause.

What I would love to see happening this month, is women with the same vigour as those of 1956, fighting against anything they deem evil against them.

Week in week out, there are reports of women being raped or abused in some way or another.

I believe women are the only ones who can win this war.

But no war can ever be won from a pulpit with a mere speech.

There needs to be action.

Instead of waiting in the queue for men to empower them, women should do all in their power to empower themselves.

For example, what do women think of rape and what do they think should happen to rapists?

Women know what being raped feels like and even those who have never been there hate the smell of it, because they have a predetermined sense of what it feels like.

Why not, in this month, act like the 1956 women and petition the government to listen to what they think should happen to rapists and abusers?

The fact that women are the ones feeling the pain means they should determine the consequence for the pain inflicted on them.

All this can be achieved through a petition to the Union Buildings.

It is time for feminists to advocate or support the rights and equality of women and I urge the women of Benoni to be the first in initiating this petition.

Utilise this month to make history.

Let all those who strike you feel how it feels to strike a rock.