From rape victim to anti-rape activist : exploring the personal journeys of three South African survivors

Abstract

South Africa is plagued by exceptionally high levels of inter-personal violence, namely rape. Whilst rape remains so pervasive, it is important to underpin potential mechanism of recovery for those left in its wake. In an effort to understand the mechanisms of recovery from rape through resilience and meaning-making, this study entitled “From rape victim to anti-rape activist: Exploring the personal journeys of three South Africa Survivors” explores lived experiences. The study employed an interpretivist epistemological lens, whilst enacting hermeneutic phenomenology’s guiding principles for the research pathway. Participants were recruited through contact with a Gender-Based-Violence non-profit organisation, where a qualitative methodological design was employed. Data was gathered via semi-structured interviews within the hermeneutic tradition. Data was analysed using the principles of hermeneutic analysis, which gave rise to fusion of horizons providing a snapshot of six individual themes per participant, and four global themes. The experience of moving from victim to activist whilst experiencing recovery was negatively mediated by the impact of patriarchal culture, victim-blaming and gendered norms but was facilitated positively by reconstructing meaning through the telling of their own stories and the witnessing of other’s stories. The co-constructed understanding between researcher and participants gave rise to the importance of: recognising the undiscovered opportunities the trauma brings; undertaking altruistic activities; the manufacture of power through mastery in multiple life domains; as well as acknowledging the purpose in one’s life, in this instance motherhood – as a mechanism of redefining the relationship with the rape.