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Shock Photo as Lesbian Warrior Tells of yet Another Corrective Rape Victim

Melanie Nathan; 08-21-10-

South Africa is known as the ‘Rape Capital’ of the world, with mind blowing statistics of around 500,000 rapes per year.   This is a human rights catastrophe  of untold proportion- with the HIV/AIDS ramification serving as the lethal weapon of mass destruction.

Especially sinister is the flagrant finger flip to each and every victim, as the  entire world cheered metaphorically on,  aiding and abetting the somnolent  South African Government, akin to perpetrators, like an Oudtshoorn ostrich with its head deeply embedded in the sand, while women continued to be raped day after day, each hour.

Through the games and festivities of Soccer World Cup 2010, the host Country and the world, cavorted with these criminals, dancing to goals and singing with each ring of  cash registers ‘cachinging’  the sound of desperate cash, while the screams of  our sisters faded with the romance of the stampede to win.

Since March of 2009, Lez Get Real has reported extensively on the insidious  and endemic hate crime – in particular the calculated rape of lesbians, specifically in South African Townships,   which has become known as “corrective rape.”

Lesbian Corrective Rape is a slogan attached to what is truthfully a brutal hate crime; the slogan is incongruous, yet reflects an abhorrent trend.

Drawing attention to oneself is an act of courage and one that cannot be emphasized enough, especially if the victim is one whose rape is termed  “corrective rape” where the odds are that the victim could be re-victimized again and again.

Years ago, Lesbians would never have come forward to tell their stories, but now with the unrelenting support and tender care of an extraordinary human being, Ndumie Funda, a lesbian woman living in a South African Township, near Cape Town, women and lesbians are telling their stories, willing to be named, photographed and to stand up on our pages to say:- “This is what happened to me!”

I personally have developed a close relationship with this hero, who is unlike anyone I have ever met.  An  unrelenting tireless warrior, who despite the worst of odds has not given up, even through her own tragedies along the way – as she houses and cares for lesbian victims of corrective rape. ” They just keep coming in,” say Ndumie Funda co-founder of Lulekwe Sizwe,  “It never stops.”

Ndumie  touched me deeply when she helped  Milicent Gaika, whose shocking  photos were published by us,  in the hope of drawing attention to this human rights travesty.  More stories flooded in, of other victims, as well as the continued bravery of Funda, who formed a support organization, named for lovers and victims, who were murdered by these rapists.

Ndumie Funda, at one time housed 15 victims in a tiny two roomed shack in a Township near Cape Town.  No running water – no amenities at all. The shack, flooded by heavy rains, housed the injured lesbian victims, who huddled together, trying to make doctors visits, police reports, bail hearings, with little bedding, no medication, no money for rent, food or transportation.

Here at Lez Get real, we publicized the stories and begged you to send a few dollars. I cannot say the money poured in, it was scarce.  A few good people did send money. Wake Up America hosted a Radio Podcast sharing the plight and My cousin Judith, a struggling single mom in South Africa went at my request to visit Ndumie in the cabin.

Judy reported back saying, “Melanie it is very bad; they are desperate, its dire! “  She gave what she could and I am sure it was more than she could afford.   I too sent my month’s mortgage – albeit a looming foreclosure in this awful economy.  This is not something anyone of you can turn your back on any longer.

I became despondent, even with my power of publicity.  Until I was contacted by a French reporter who wrote a story for a European Magazine.   But still the group continued to suffer. I had nothing to send. I could only write.

Now there is another victim. Do we want to hear her story too? or Can we simply send our few dollars?

This week I received word of yet another victim and another shocking picture too horrible to publish – but yet we must! Because they have asked us to. 

Luleke Sizwe is desperate for help as Ndumie Funda  goes it alone again – with her note to me on Face Book as she now proudly displays her own campaign to raise money for our sisters :- at http://lulekisizwe.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/the-r10-campaign/ They are asking for R10.00 (a little over $3.00 US per donation)

Ndumie has found a way to get a website going. She once told me she would never give up and tonight she sent me this link to an article which has now appeared in mainstream  press:-

Ndumie can be friended via Face Book  at facebook.com/ndumie.funda

READERS AND FB UPDATE: Thanks for all the inquiries about where to send money…

DONATION DETAILS: TO DONATE – We need $3,000 per month and we could fully support this Group.  If you can make a donation directly or send same c/o Melanie Nathan made out to PRIVATE COURTS INC.  P.O. Box 1108 Woodacre, CA 94973, USA . The Latter would save on expensive bank transfer fees as I would send it all as one.

OR DIRECTLY to

Please make a direct transfer into Luleki Sizwe’s Bank Account:

Account Name: Luleki Sizwe LBT Women’s Project
Business transaction account 071362940
Branch code 024909
Swift code SBZA ZA JJ
STANDARD BANK

Please quote “R10 Campaign” on the deposit

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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