Angry female students protest topless against campus rapes Protests began on Monday at Rhodes University in Grahamstown

Angry female students protest
topless against campus rapes
Protests began on Monday at Rhodes University
in Grahamstown, South Africa against incessant
rape on the campus. Topless female students
with 'this is mine scrawled on their breasts' were
seen among the protesters demonstrating against
the rape culture on a university campus.
The police have tried to disperse students using
pepper spray and stun guns.
The students started demonstrating after a list of
suspected rapists on campus was leaked on
social media on Sunday.
Many students, who were raped on campus said
they have reported rapes to the university as well
as police, but that their complaints have been
ignored by campus authorities, the BBC reported.
Students are demanding the university suspend
11 alleged rapists on campus who were listed on
the leaked list on social media and change its
policies on how rape victims are treated.
On Tuesday afternoon female students danced
topless with some writing 'this is mine' on their
breasts to show only they can decide to do with
their bodies.
On Wednesday, more than 200 students were
attacked with rubber bullets and pepper spray and
stun grenades by police officers who were trying
to disperse the crowd even after the vice
chancellor of the University had begged the police
to stop attacking his students.
Eastern Cape police arrested five students during
the protest . They were later released without bail
and are due to re-appear on charges of public
violence in July.
According to Naledi Mashishi of the Students
Representative Council, five
students were arrested and one hospitalised after
police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at
them.
Members of the Students Representative
Council said they will only stop if they are
assured "no protester will face disciplinary action
or be penalised for participating in the protests”.
University lecturers have also joined in the
demonstration.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers’
Union told Eyewitness News : “We decided to join
the strike of the students because of the brutality
of the police.
"We can’t watch our children being treated
the way they were yesterday; so we took a
decision that it’s too much now."
The protests are now being wound down as
university staff agree to set up a task force to
research the allegations.
Lectures are due to resume nextbMonday.
According to statistics released, South Africa has
the highest number of rapes in the world.