Tshwaranang Udadate is the official newsletter of Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centreto end violence against women

By Naomi Webster

I sleep alone in a flat, with my gold fish, a knife under my pillow, wearing a tracksuit to bed, the phone, within fingers reach, on redial to the local police station. I am not thinking of my work, eradication of violence against women, the Constitution, new domestic violence legislation, or a new concept in my vocabulary called sexual rights, but rather of how to safely survive another night!

Sexual rights are defined as " the human rights of women, including their right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. Equal relationships between women and men in matters of sexual relations and reproduction, including full respect for the integrity of the person, require mutual respect, consent and shared responsibility for sexual behaviour and its consequences."

(The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action 1995, paragraph 6.5 page 59)

Another definition from the Liberal party in the Unites States, defines sexual rights as " the right of adults to private choice in consensual sexual activity."

These definitions attempt to afford all human beings with the right to autonomy over sex and sexuality. The first definition includes freedom from violence. Within this context is the link between violence and sexuality. For many women (and men) who are sexually active, they have often had to give up the right to enjoyment of sexual intercourse, in exchange for not being victims of violence. This article attempts to advocate for a non violent society where individuals can freely exercise their right to sexuality.

Sexual rights, in the South African context, are particularly difficult for women to attain. Women face triple resistance to their sexual autonomy. Firstly, our law and society has generally regarded women as asexual beings, incapable of sexual decision making. We need only look at how long its has taken the State to recognise that lesbianism exists in South Africa (it was only with the 1988 Sexual Offences Amendment Act that a crime for female same sex activity was included), the battle for free and safe abortion services for women were only legally enacted in 1996, and the amendment of the Human Tissue Act, which denied single women the right to artificial insemination, was only recently passed.

Secondly, burdens of culture and tradition, that deny women their right to any autonomy, including sexuality. Genital mutilation as a cultural practice in some countries, not only denies women their sexual rights, but is the leading cause of death among women in African communities.

Thirdly, violence or the threat thereof, further denies women this right. If South Africa has the second highest incidences of violence against women, (Rwanda is the first), we need to seriously address this blatant declaration of war against women and children in our country.

Sexual rights, though universal, have different implications for all. For young women, the reality of date rape and peer pressure, limits the exercise of this right. In our attempt to bring meaning to this right we need to embark on education programmes for adolescents. We also need to break the silence on sex education within the home. We need to acknowledge that some teenagers are sexually active and provide them with information, support and understanding. This may prevent our current epidemic of teenage pregnancy and (backstreet) abortion.

At another level of sexual activity, menopausal women, by social standards, should not be sexually active. Society readily accepts sexual liaisons between older men and young women, but frowns upon relationships between older women and younger men. We need to re - examine our social values and strive for substantive equality, because it is only then that we can claim our sexual rights.