Outrage is Growing Over a Teenage Girl Being Raped By: Nina Bharadwaj

     A seventeen year old girl, in South Africa, named Anene Booyson was raped by a gang. Then she was maimed to death in Bredasdorp. Bredasdorp is in a rural town southeast of Cape Town.
     Unfortunately, this type of story happens very often in South Africa. There, a provincial official said that violence towards feamales is "systemic." Some 71% of women have reported being sexually abused.
    Although, now, this story has brought on a new awareness to the matter. Now, the rape and killing of Booyon has brought on tremendous outrage in Bredasdorp and South Africa. People are appalled that a women could go through a traumatic experience like that. A women from Bredasdorp, Sophia Europha, said "I don't know what we must do, but we must do something. Otherwise, there is no use to giving birth to a baby boy if men treat women lower than animals."
     A security guard of Booyson, police Capt. F.C Van Wyk, was a construction site not to far from Booyson's home. He found her weak body in the ground. A Western Cape Health Department Spokeswomen said that Anene Booyson's injuries were so terrible that her family even asked to leave out details of the wounds.
Wilma Brooks, Booyson's aunt, said that Anene survived for just long enough to recall one of her assailants. Western Cape provincial minister of social development, Brooks and Albert Fritz, said that the attacker was a close friend of the family. Brooks quoted that "He was a lovely child to have in the house. He was her friend, and it's just incomprehensible."Fritz said that the attacker and two other suspects have been arrested. More arrests could be on the way, though. The attackers have been charged with murder and rape.Many people have been chanting "No violence! No violence!," while marching in the streets. Even though rape is common in South Africa, it isn't common to this rural community. Fritz said that this was "very uncharacteristic of the town."
     Fritz thinks that there are a few things that have contributed to the attck. One is that there are many gangs within the countryside that are doing things like "drawing blood." Another is the connection between alcohol and violence. He paid attention to bars where drinks come freely and against the law, shebeens. The third reason is that many attackers do not have fathers, which is a large role model in their lives.
     Sexual violence is frequently in South Africa, but now that may change. Fritz said that "This ... murder of this incredibly young beautiful women has become a tipping point." A radio station even broadcasts that every four minutes, a person a raped, in South Africa.
The CEO of primedia broadcasting, Terry Volkwyn, said this rape caused an outpour of rage, anger, and emotion. She said "We all know the statistics and  read them, but when you are sitting and listening to the radio ... when that little beep sound drops all the time, eventually after about an hour, you can't believe ... there goes another one."
     The president, Jacob Zuma has said "The whole nation is outraged at this extreme violation and and destruction of a young human life. This act is shocking, cruel, and unhumane. It has no place in our country. We must never allow ourselves to get used to these acts of base criminality to our women and children." He also called on the courts to "impose the harshest sentences on these crimes as part of a concerted to end this scourge in our society."
     This week, a large group of women, that may have not even known Booyson, had buried a cross in the dusty sand where the police say that the  girl was attacked. The funeral for Anene Booyson will be on Saturday, but people everywhere will remember her for a long time.
Analysis: I think that the author of this article, Robyn Curnow, wrote this article because she wanted to let everyone know what was happening in Africa. She wanted to let us now that there have been many issues regarding sexual abuse in Africa, and now people are trying to do something about it. The main idea was that a seventeen year old got raped and died. This is often in South Africa but not in Capetown. This may be a tipping point for many people on how it is very uncharacteristic of the community. There was a little bias because there was only the point of view of the protestors, but this bias was needed because it would better the community.
I think that it is terrible that this girl got raped, but it is good that people are doing something about it. Rape shouldn't have to be known as a common thing in South Africa. It isn't good for people to think that way. I hope something is done quickly because we don't want this to happen again, whether it be in South Africa or another part of the country. I just want people to be able to think of their home as safe and as a good community. This girl will always be remembered.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/08/world/africa/south-africa-gang-rape/index.html