EFF statement on the Rhodes University student protests against campus rape culture
20 April 2016
The EFF condemns the brutal police response to the ongoing student protests against campus rape culture at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. The police have attacked non-violent and unarmed students with rubber bullets and teargas. We call on the police to restrain themselves and also release the arrested students with immediate effect.
The students are raising a legitimate concern about the failures of our society, in particular the very police, university management and the entire justice system in dealing with rape and rape culture. The police, before arresting these protestors, or pulling any trigger to shoot at students, must first ask themselves what have they ever done to make Grahamstown and Rhodes University a safer place against rapists and sexual offenders. The police must hang their heads in shame because they have done absolutely nothing, expect to silence students with violence.
We call on the university to call for an open assembly attended by all in the university community, from the Council to all students bodies and amend the current policy around sexual assault and rape. It is useless to continue making the process of amending this policy a matter of a small committee of experts sitting in some air-conditioned offices. The university must allow an open process, in an open assembly which will not only concede to students’ demands, but also be educational in the process.
The EFF commends all the student protestors for raising and elevating the matter of rape and all its associated cultures through a protest action with non-negotiable demands. We commend them for putting their bodies at risk to ensure that society listens and does something urgent about the levels of rape in our society.