Women in South Africa take up guns and martial arts for protection against gender violence

BRONKHORSTSPRUIT, South Africa (AP) — At the command of a female instructor, a line of girls and women, some wearing pink ear protectors, shoot five rounds at a target with 9 mm pistols as they undergo firearm training at a range in the agricultural town of Bronkhorstspruit just outside South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.

The group, some as young as 13 and others up to 65, are looking for ways to protect themselves in a country where gender-based violence is such a critical problem that it was declared a national disaster by the government in November.

“Check your grip, check your line of sight,” shouts Claire van der Westhuizen, the lead female instructor at Lone Operator shooting range, as women with well-manicured nails reload for another round.

The training course is specifically designed for women and offers practice in real-world scenarios like self-defense firing while lying on their stomachs and backs.

Femicide rates in South Africa are among the highest in the world, according to U.N. Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality. A South African study in 2022 found more than 35% of South African women aged 18 and older had experienced physical or sexual violence at some point. In most cases, the perpetrator was an intimate partner.

Sunette du Toit, a working 51-year-old grandmother, was pushed to take up firearm training after surviving a home invasion by five men who tied her up and ransacked her house, she told The Associated Press.

“I was not in a position to defend myself at that point,” du Toit said. “I had to do this (firearm training) for myself to gain my confidence back to be able to move in public, and even in my own house, without feeling vulnerable.”

She called the women’s firearm training group “a family of support.”

Firearms in South Africa are heavily regulated. Anyone who wants to own a gun for self-defense must be over 21 and pass proficiency tests and background checks.

Various self-defense trainings for women are popping up throughout the country.

In South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, Tatiana Leyka, 33, took up the martial art of jiujitsu for self-defense, well aware of South Africa’s reputation.

“I think it’s a No. 1 priority,” she said at the end of a Saturday morning class that included escaping chokeholds, avoiding being trapped against walls and other moves to help women flee attacks by men. “With the rise in numbers of gender-based violence, it’s good for you to be able to defend yourself, even if it’s just to be able to get away.”

South Africa’s femicide rates are five to six times higher than the global average, according to U.N. Women.

Mpiwa Mangwiro-Tsanga, policy development and advocacy manager at Sonke Gender Justice, a women’s rights organization, said statistics show around 15 women are killed each day in South Africa due to gender-based violence. One in three women has been sexually abused or sexually harassed.

“That is how bad it is,” she said. “We are competing with conflict countries.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s move to declare violence against women and girls a national disaster came after years of pressure from women’s advocacy groups. They cite socio-economic inequality, strong patriarchal attitudes and an underresourced police force as factors.

“It is a shame that our country has the dubious distinction of having one of the world’s highest levels of violence against women and girls,” Ramaphosa said in a statement announcing “national action.”

The declaration means authorities can direct funds toward the issue, but activists point to decades of high gender violence rates and a national strategic plan announced six years ago that hasn’t solved problems as evidence of a disconnect between policy and implementation.

A lack of women’s shelters and other places of safety shows South Africa’s policies have been progressive on paper but poorly implemented, Mangwiro-Tsanga said.

“The reality here in South Africa is that a man who raped a woman will be arrested, go to prison. The state will spend more on that rapist than it will spend on the survivor of that rape,” she said.

South Africa has a very low conviction rate for rapes, with only around 8% of those reported in 2021 resulting in convictions. Many cases were dropped from the criminal justice system, while most were never prosecuted, according to Amnesty International.

Despite assurances by authorities of renewed action, South African women are taking their own steps, even if it means keeping their training secret from partners and husbands.

Michael Palin, a jiujitsu gym manager, said not all the women’s partners know they attend training. Some say they are going to the shopping center in front of the gym.

Marguerite Hershensohn, a 49-year-old beauty therapist, attends gun classes with her 21-year-old daughter, Nika. Hershensohn said she is relieved her daughter is learning to protect herself with a gun and not always relying on the police.

“Yes, we have to respect those authorities,” she said. “But they’re not always around.”

The women who attend the training “don’t look like G.I. Jane,” Hershensohn said. “We just look like normal women.”

But Mangwiro-Tsanga warned a trend of women resorting to guns or martial arts when society fails to protect them also can be problematic. Instead of dealing with perpetrators, “it burdens women and girls who are already burdened,” she said.

Stephanie Graham, the jiujitsu class instructor, said while many women in her program gain confidence, there is no guarantee they will always be able to defend themselves.

“We can only hope that it’ll give us more confidence and heightened awareness so that we can perceive a threat a little bit earlier than the average person would,” Graham said.

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