Mbali Shongwe is a 22-year-old activist and rape survivor who says police need to receive more training when dealing with victims as mistreatment could cause secondary trauma.
Shongwe founded the mental health initiative, Mindful(l), which provides access to mental health education and support for women. The organisation also hosts talks and workshops on topics such as gendered violence and sexuality. Shongwe wants to remind survivors that they do not have to overcome trauma alone.
"We want to create a safe space and healthy support," she said
Shongwe opened a rape case against her assailant at Mowbray Police Station in 2019.
While doing so, she said she experienced insensitivity from officers at the station. She endured what she described as secondary trauma when she was locked in a room at the police station for three hours.
“I had no idea why they kept me there, I was so scared, and nobody spoke to me the entire time,” she said.
During her second attempt to report the rape, an officer made inappropriate comments about her appearance.
“He made multiple advances, he was very flirtatious, and nobody stopped him.”
The police officer also took her statement in front of everyone at the help desk instead of in a private room.
The police also asked Shongwe to find out more information about her assailant.
“They asked me to do work that I don’t believe was my responsibility. They wanted me to find out his name, address, where he studied etc,” she said.
She added: “They told me that without that information, they were unable to help me, but I don’t understand how I was supposed to get it.”
Shongwe said she felt even more traumatised a year into her case when she found out that the DNA sample from her assault was not enough to help her case.
“I was told that you could tell from the start whether it is a strong sample or not, but I waited so long to be told that,” she said.
She recalled how the procedure of her internal DNA sample being taken was conducted in a very clinical manner.
“She wasn’t rude or impolite, but she was completely desensitised to my experience,” she said.
She added: “Following a trauma of that scale, all I wanted was to be treated with kindness and empathy.”
Shongwe received an SMS in April saying that her case had been closed due to insufficient evidence.
“When I investigated, I found that none of the leads I had given was followed.”
Shongwe said rape survivors need to feel supported in a way that makes them feel valued.
“We want to see a change in the way these police officers are trained, or for the introduction of support networks that can work in conjunction with the police.”
Shongwe wants to prompt government and people in decision-making positions to look at the issue more closely.
“There is a strong sense of wanting accountability and transparency with the DNA backlog. The simplest thing that can be done to address the issue is to overturn the backlog,” she said.
Shongwe said there was a perpetual state of fear and anxiety that exists among women.
“When hearing the horrific stories of how our sisters Uyinene Mrwetyana, Karabo Mokoena and recently, Nosicelo Mtebeni, were brutally and senselessly murdered, one cannot help but wonder how much more it will take for the country to stop dead in its tracks and actively address the real pandemic, one that has claimed and continues to claim many more lives, gender-based violence.”
Captain Frederick van Wyk from SAPS Western Cape said the enquiry into Shongwe’s case was received, and he was waiting for a response from Mowbray police station along with Claremont Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS).