Rape becomes daily life for elderly women

Several of the women over the age of 50 years spoke about their experiences on condition of anonymity, Review Online reported.

The woman said older women lay in bed at night expecting to be raped. “The younger men just come into your house and tell you that it is time to have sex. You do not have a choice; what they want they will get, because there is no one to protect you,” the woman said.

She said living in an informal settlement or rural area meant there were no locked doors to hide behind and no police station close by. “The nearest police station is almost 10km away. I do not have money to go there and walking at my age is not an option,” she said.

She said sometimes men came in groups of up to four, and after the assaults there was no way to deal with the pain and humiliation they left behind. Some of the men who raped elderly women were as young as their own grandchildren, she said.

“We just go on the next day, sometimes struggling to walk, but we know there is nowhere to go and no one to tell. If we should say something we know that we would fall victim to a robbery and be killed in the process. For us there is nothing called dignity.” the woman said.

Polokwane police spokesperson Warrant Officer Lesiba Ramoshaba said authorities were not aware of these crimes, as cases were never opened.

Westenburg Police Station spokesperson Captain Mohlaka Mashiane said the only way the police could act following a crime was when it was reported. He urged the residents to report these crimes.

Social development departmental spokesperson Adéle van der Linde said there were several non-governmental organisations that were concerned about the elderly and their welfare. She said the department of social development fund these NGOs, one such organisation being the Elim Hlanganani Society for the Care of the Aged.

“The message from our side to communities would rather be to report any violence or ‘neglect’ to the elderly and to break the silence so they can be helped, whether it’s taking them to a place of safekeeping or counselling them and help ensure the apprehension of the culprits,” Van der Linde said.

She urged the women to report the matters and get the assistance they need to deal with the emotional scars that things such as rape leave on them. Some of the elderly woman have gone to the Rethabile Clinic to be tested for HIV/Aids and are awaiting the results of their blood tests.

Last year, an 83-year-old woman died after she was beaten and raped in the Sereni village outside Makhado, in Limpopo.

“It is alleged that the pensioner was asleep when two suspects, who [had] covered their faces with balaclavas, forced [their way] into her room and demanded money,” police said in a statement.

“The two then dragged the gogo to nearby bushes, where they allegedly raped and assaulted her.”

They left her in the bushes, returned to her house and set it alight, said police.

– Caxton News Service