WASHINGTON, DC — South Africa's Minister of Justice confirmed that the government intends to introduce the concept of hate crimes law for the first time after more than 170,000 people from 175 nations joined one of the largest international campaigns ever hosted on Change.org .
Ndumie Funda, founder of Luleki Sizwe, a South African activist group launched, led the campaign following escalated violence against LGBT people in the country, particularly the so-called '"corrective" rape and murder of lesbians and transgender men. In 2011, after more than 170,000 people joined Ndumie's Change.org campaign, South Africa's Ministry of Justice established a national task team to address hate crimes against LGBT South Africans and appointed Ndumie to the team.
"We worked so hard for this and it's really great to see the minister finally do this," said Ndumie Funda, founder of Luleki Sizwe, who started the petition on Change.org . "There were many people that helped bring us to this day including international activists Jules Husey, Melanie Nathan, Billi Du Preeze, and Emma Rowlands, but after almost three years of campaigning it's important to remember that it all started with the petition on Change.org . We'd never see this legislation if people all over the world hadn't gone to Change.org to support us."
According to Mambaonline, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Jeff Radebe, who in 2011 said he was opposed to categorizing "corrective" rape as a hate crime, announced:
"Acts such as these that are motivated by social bias based on the identity (with reference to race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity) of the victim are forms of bias-motivated violence, more commonly referred to domestically and internationally as 'hate crimes.'"
"We have in earnest started with work to enact relevant legislative instruments that would make it punishable by law to commit acts of hatred against lesbians and gays."
Dubbed the 'rape capital of the world', one in four South African men questioned in a survey by the South African Medical Research Council said they had raped someone, and nearly half admitted having attacked more than one victim. According to Funda, each year 510 women report being the victims of "corrective" rape in South Africa, and over the past decade 31 lesbians have been murdered in the country because of their sexuality.
"In 2011, Ndumie Funda's Change.org petition proved to me that ordinary people could use online petitions to create huge change. Her petition inspired me to pivot our company's mission from mere awareness-raising to empowering people everywhere to create the change they wanted to see," said Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org . "It has taken nearly three years for Ndumie and her fellow activists to realize a full victory, but thanks to their dedication and passion hate crimes legislation is being introduced for the first time. It is extraordinary to be reminded time and again the profound power people have to change the world."
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Live signature totals from Ndumie Funda's campaign:
www.change.org/petitions/south-africa-take-action-to-stop-corrective-rape .
For more information on Luleki Sizwe, please visit www.lulekisizwe.com/ .
Luleki Sizwe is a tiny Cape Town charity that rescues, supports, feeds and nurses to health survivors of 'corrective rape' in 10 Cape Town townships. Run by four volunteers, Luleki Sizwe was founded by community activist Ndumie Funda after her female fiancée was the a victim of 'corrective rape'.
For more information on Change.org, please visit www.change.org/about .
Change.org is the world's largest petition platform, empowering people everywhere to create the change they want to see. More than 40 million users in every country use our tools to transform their communities — locally, nationally and globally.