I remember doing a theatre exercise where the director was trying to get the cast to focus on the roles that we were all going to be embodying by asking us serious questions about our lives and life experiences.

The production itself told the stories of four women who all found themselves around a fire one cold night. They’d all been forced to the streets because of stuff they’d been through and subsequently found healing by telling their stories.

The director went around the circle that the cast was standing in, asking a whole lot of questions – none of which I can remember, except this one: How many people do you know that have been raped?

“I don’t know anyone.”

“None.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Wow, I’d say I know too many to count,” I said, and there were obvious gasps of shock around the circle. Working on camps that have initiated the process of inner healing and forgiveness to many, many, many young women, girls, men, and boys over the last few years has made me aware of the very real epidemic that we face in the way of sexual abuse and rape (not only in South Africa, but around the world).

That’s why I was less than shocked when I heard the following:

“You sold us out! This can’t be! You sold us out!” words from Mapisa-Nqakula, one of three of the outraged female ministers at Saturday evening’s protest during president Jacob Zuma’s election results announcement speech in South Africa.

These women represent all of the mothers that told their daughters to keep quiet, or ignored them when they went to tell them that their daddy, uncle – that “nice” man on the corner – raped them or touched them inappropriately, all because they wanted to protect the men in their lives… There’s a name for this: “accomplice.”

While we’re addressing men violating and abusing women, let’s also address the women who’ve been brainwashed into thinking that this is okay because they’ve been oppressed for so long.

We’ve made a bit of progress though: ten years ago, nine in 10 women were raped. Today, the same is true for three in 10 women – we’ve still got a lot of work to do.

Forgive me if I’m about to interpret out of context, but I love the story of Jesus and the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees were about to kill the woman by stoning her, and then they brought her to Jesus to find out what he thought about the matter… He wasn’t perturbed and started writing in the sand, saying that whomever hasn’t sinned must throw the first stone. Jesus then went back down to writing and carried on writing until everyone had left him and her alone there.

“Jesus: Dear woman, where is everyone? Are we alone? Did no one step forward to condemn you?

Woman Caught in Adultery: Lord, no one has condemned me.

Jesus: Well, I do not condemn you either; all I ask is that you go and from now on avoid the sins that plague you.

– John 8:10-11

The men in her life were quick to judge her and were on their way to kill her (the Bible says nothing about the man that she was caught in the act of adultery with), but Jesus stopped them, and in the end, gave the woman an opportunity to receive forgiveness and start on a clean slate.

He protected her.

I’m not saying that women must be protected rather than judged for very real crimes that they may commit (consequences are very real), but I am saying that Jesus showed an alternate path of redemption where the predisposition of the judges was to respond in violence. Gender-based violence.

A little later on Jesus says the following (verse 12):

“Jesus: I am the light that shines through the cosmos; if you walk with Me, you will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life and will not know darkness.”

 – John 8:10-12

I’m hoping that this is the same light that our country will decide to walk in. It’s our acceptance of sin and the sinful nature that is the reason for all of the injustice that we experience today. I’m also hoping that people who know the truth would walk in that truth and do very real things towards the alleviation of the pain of all of the injustice that we experience daily.

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