Sixteen-year-old Zulaikha Patel plans radical naked protest against victim shaming

Two years after dominating headlines for protesting against her school’s archaic hair policy, 16-year-old Zulaikha Patel’s activism is about to cause waves once again as she plans a radical naked protest against victim shaming and to raise awareness about gender-based violence.

Patel first made headlines after she inadvertently became the face of the protest against Pretoria Girls High’s code of conduct that discriminates against the natural texture of black girls’ hair, a move which later got the attention of Solange Knowles.

A poster intended to alert the public about Patel’s latest protest has been doing the rounds on social media and has been shared by fellow activists such as Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng.

Image: Twitter

Speaking to The Citizen, Patel confirmed that she was indeed planning the protest action after coming up with the idea last week Friday.

This comes in the wake of cases such as the Pastor Omotoso Trial and a European case in which a young Irish girl’s underwear was used as evidence of consent.

This sparked outrage all over the globe and resulted in the #ThisIsNotConsent campaign in which women displayed their underwear in public to show that a woman’s choice of underwear did not signal consent.

Patel said: “We felt that the justice system has failed rape victims and we see this is the handling of trials and the handling of victims where they are treated as though it is their fault and we have decided to take action against the notion.”

Patel said she and her comrades are expecting a number of young men and women to attend the protest and demonstrate while naked and holding signs featuring messages such as “this is not consent” or “I am naked and I am still not asking for it”.

She also confirmed that she had since been in communication with organisations such as Not In My Name SA and Total Shutdown for additional support during the demonstration as they shared a similar cause.

The protest is set to take place outside the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court from 8am to 12pm on Friday, November 30, and Patel has invited those who wish to support their cause to attend the demonstration and participate.

Those who wish to support the protest action but cannot attend have been invited to post on social media in order to draw attention to the demonstration.

They have not yet set an official hashtag or social media accounts but Patel has promised to communicate those details in due course.

Patel’s age and the radical nature of the demonstration have raised some eyebrows but Patel is determined to stand for what she believes in.

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