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Internationally acclaimed actor, director and playwright John Kani (76) has added his voice to the public outcry against the gender-based violence that continues to engulf the country, saying female entertainers have suffered exploitation and abuse at the hands of the arts industry’s decision-makers – the result being that women are forced to sleep their way to securing themselves a role.
“Every day we hear stories that women’s roles are being axed from our screens because they refused to open their legs. The abuse of women and children in this country is dire,” Kani told City Press on Friday.
He called on all men working in the creative industries to speak out against gender-based violence.
Following this week’s revelation of the rape and murder of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana (19), women gathered outside Parliament to vent their frustration against government’s seeming inability to address the waves of violence that continue to be meted out against women and children.
And, in a further show of activism and fury against such abuse, victims of gender-based violence went on Twitter to name and shame their perpetrators, using the hashtag #AmINext.
Singer and humanitarian Yvonne Chaka Chaka and TV personality Penny Lebyane also spoke to City Press this week in support of #AmINext.
They agreed with members of this movement that the justice system had failed women and children.
Lebyane said #AmINext was a double-edged sword because victims had grown tired of remaining silent.
“I have seen a number of victims come out, and many people have questioned them on the abuse, because a perpetrator is either the victim’s friend or boyfriend. We must always be aware that when the name [of a perpetrator] keeps showing up, there is a pattern. This is how US actor Bill Cosby and singer R Kelly are falling,” said Lebyane.
She said men needed to change their attitude to women.
“They need to man up and stop the entitlement that makes them believe they own women. We know that the system is messed up, but it is time for men to be accountable, take responsibility and contribute to a process of healing.”
Lebyane said every woman had a story to tell.
“We need to stop questioning the victims over and over again. I always go hard on men in the entertainment industry because I have seen how they behave in clubs in the presence of young girls. It’s about time these men said: ‘I did this, and I am sorry.’”
Kani said it was unfortunate that only people with money and power could manipulate the justice system to their advantage.
“When you don’t have money, you don’t have a leg to stand on. In many cases, women have to provide evidence that they were raped because the law says ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
“This tells you that there are many perpetrators who are walking free on our streets because the victim failed to provide concrete evidence such as medical records.”
Kani added that it was time men reached out to each other. “The first step of healing is admission. We have to accept that we are a problem to society and that we make women part of the problem,” he says.
Kani says it was easy to spot an abusive man.
“When he is obsessed about you, be careful. If he calls you three times in an hour to check where you are, be careful. If you are in a heated argument with him and he threatens to kill you, believe him and walk away because he is going to kill you.”
He suggested that those in the creative industries formulate policies to protect women, adding: “We should name and shame perpetrators publicly, especially those in showbusiness, because they have more power, visibility and fame.”
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