16 days of activism: It’s now sisters in arms in a fight against GBV

In a small underground shooting range in Centurion were women armed with guns, large red noise-cancelling ear muffs and protective glasses, firing live rounds at targets, learning to protect themselves against gender-based violence (GBV) and crime.

As South Africa observed 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children from Thursday, the Girls on Fire campaign officially started its “16 days of action” by training women in arming themselves.

Launched in Centurion yesterday, the women were introduced to the laws regulating firearms, different types of handguns and rifles, the differences in ammunition and how to safely control a weapon.

But these women were not into the small cute pistols often designed to fit into a woman’s purse.

They wanted to handle bigger firearms.

“My favourite is the AK47. I love it. I am really good with it,” Girls on Fire director Tshepi Mmekwa said with a smile.

She is a mother of two, a small woman, who is experienced in handling guns.

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“Today we launched 16 days of action and not activism, because we believe women should not be victims,” said Mmekwa.

“In this country we talk a lot and we have brilliant laws but we believe it is time for women to take action in their own safety and the safety of their families.” Founder and director Lynette Oxley took the women through the different types of rounds, correcting the perception that they were called bullets. “Bullets are the tip part of a round. This is not called a bullet.”

Moving onto protective gear, Oxley shared screens of different kinds of holsters for women, including ankle holsters, bra holsters and a corset with pockets to conceal a firearm.

These seemed to be the perfect gun concealments as, suddenly, some of the women stood up, lifted their
T-shirts and to our surprise, they had guns strapped to their waists, comfortably hidden in their jeans.

As Oxley’s theory class now turned into practice, each woman had a turn to handle a rifle and handgun with live rounds.

There was a simultaneous jump among the women at the deafening bang of the first shot from a rifle, which lifted a hovering smog of dust from the underground walls.

Besides that, the mood was jovial, empowering and exciting. It was clear these women were serious about learning the technical details of handling a firearm as each stood firm, elbows locked, and firing round after round at
targets.

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For women like Marlene van den Heever, an estate agent, it was when she had to do a viewing for a potential buyer and it turned out to be five men in a car.

“I immediately did not feel safe. My instinct told me to open the house for them and let them view the house while I stayed outside…

“That day, I felt I needed to do more to feel protected. I can’t expect my husband to be with me and guard me all the time. Sometimes I have my grandchildren with me in the car and I want to be able to protect them if something
happens,” she said.

Van den Heever was accompanied by her daughter Charlene Carstens.

Despite having experienced an armed robbery in her teenage years and a smash-andgrab as a university student, what scares Carstens the most is when she’s alone with the children.

– rorisangk@citizen.co.za