Using extreme measures to be heard
Where do we draw the line that one has taken matters too far to be heard, and also who gets to decide on this? Can I also take it maybe a bit further? Which instrument is used to measure the extent to which one has taken it way too far? On Wednesday we were exposed …
Where do we draw the line that one has taken matters too far to be heard, and also who gets to decide on this? Can I also take it maybe a bit further? Which instrument is used to measure the extent to which one has taken it way too far?
On Wednesday we were exposed to a heartbreaking video of a half-naked Gugu Ncube who was protesting outside the Union Buildings in Tshwane alleging she had been sexually harassed and stripped of her dignity by her former manager at Unisa (University of South Africa).
During her protest, she said out of desperation to keep her job she decided to give in to her former manager’s alleged sexual advances.
In a statement, she indicates how she has on numerous accounts attempted to report her manager to the institution’s management with no success.
She was later dismissed, allegedly for speaking out against her manager, and now needed the external intervention of the presidential office and the UN (United Nations) to sort out the matter.
She says she decided to protest half-naked because this is the only way she believed she would be heard because she has exhausted all other channels to get help.
What really pains me about this story is how ordinary people sitting on the sidelines are pointing fingers and calling her an attention seeker, and a mad woman.
What more was she supposed to do to be heard? She has clearly tried all possible channels but they didn’t yield any results.
But now that she is naked, the nation has stopped to listen, and her story has gone viral.
I mean, in the society that we live in today, we only get a reaction when one takes extreme measures.
Not long ago we saw a group of the Khoi San protesting in the same facility dressed in almost the same way she did.
Even on Monday, we saw a group of environmentalists cycling naked, seeking to be heard.
Look at the story of musician Bongekile “Babes Wodumo” Similane, who is allegedly a victim of abuse. She took a video that showed her being attacked by her lover.
We only start addressing the abuse women endure in the workplace, church and home when they are dead, or fighting for their lives in hospital.
Follow us on these platforms:
For more #hyperlocal news at your fingertips, visit Boksburg Advertiser, Springs Advertiser, Brakpan Herald, African Reporter and Kathorus Mail.
