Tumi, who was raped as a young girl, told TshisaLIVE the struggle to make her voice heard was one of the hardest challenges she faced in a world where men did not see the need to join the fight.
“I feel like we’ve normalised a culture where men are not involved. If you are raped, it is your issue and you must deal with it like you initiated it. We didn’t apply for this. We need men to be uncomfortable and fight this epidemic with us.”
She admitted that the events of the last month left her on edge and revealed that she was afraid when a male delivery man dropped off food at her hotel room during a business trip.
“I ordered in. I ordered food and when the delivery guy was on his way, I took a knife. I took a knife because I didn’t know what would happen to me. I put it down and then hatched this plan that I would collect the food in the passage where I can be seen and I can scream if anything happens. He comes, leaves and all the while I am paranoid as hell.”
“It shook me because I was questioning my life and how this can be normal to want to grab a knife because you are so scared of a man, a man you do not know, and what he can do to you.”
While she applauded all efforts to bring awareness to violence against women and children, she said the real test came when the outrage was no longer trending.
“We have been here many times before and we seem to only remember how badly women and children are treated in South Africa when someone is making a noise on social media. It is a bit frustrating because you ask yourself what will happen when it quietens down and no longer trends.
She said that the anger needed to motivate action otherwise everyone would be shouting at each other and not working together or making plans to address the scourge.
