MANY teenagers consider beatings and coercion into sex as normal aspects of healthy relationships.
A group of teenage girls from Soweto, who have spent the last two years documenting and telling the stories of their communities and peers, say more often than not the stories they come across are of abuse.
The project is part of a "social journalism" programme funded by Global Girl Media, an international nonprofit organisation aimed at inspiring community activism and social change.
The girls told Sowetan that many of their male friends between 18 and 20 years old - "good guys" according to all the girls - beat their girlfriends.
"Some of their girlfriends believe that the abuse is an expression of love. They believe if your boyfriend is not jealous you are not loved," Manto Khumalo said.
"Many don't know who to talk to and where to get help when they are in bad relationships," Kamogelo Mabizela said.
Sthokozo Mabaso said it would also "depend on the kind of abuse, how much and by whom".
"If it is your stepdad and he has a good relationship with your mother, you are afraid that she will not believe you," she said.
Tumi Mosadi, SA programme director for Global Girl Media, says the objective of the programme is to give "the lacking voice of young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds a platform".
"They come up with their own stories. We train them in journalism, give them skills. A lot of the stories involve abuse and [substance abuse problems]. We are trying to change that but it is a reflection of what is happening," Mosadi said.
The girls' experiences echo the findings of a report by the Gender and Health Research Unit attached to the Medical Research Council and School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand that "South African youths appear to tolerate coercive sexual practices within dating situations".
Among the youths interviewed in the study, "forced sex was never described as 'rape' by the girls as 'it is with your boyfriend'".
"Though they might recognise the situation as abusive, they tolerate it because their partners say they love them," the report says.
- moengk@sowetan.co.za
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Abuse mistaken for love
MANY teenagers consider beatings and coercion into sex as normal aspects of healthy relationships.
A group of teenage girls from Soweto, who have spent the last two years documenting and telling the stories of their communities and peers, say more often than not the stories they come across are of abuse.
The project is part of a "social journalism" programme funded by Global Girl Media, an international nonprofit organisation aimed at inspiring community activism and social change.
The girls told Sowetan that many of their male friends between 18 and 20 years old - "good guys" according to all the girls - beat their girlfriends.
"Some of their girlfriends believe that the abuse is an expression of love. They believe if your boyfriend is not jealous you are not loved," Manto Khumalo said.
"Many don't know who to talk to and where to get help when they are in bad relationships," Kamogelo Mabizela said.
Sthokozo Mabaso said it would also "depend on the kind of abuse, how much and by whom".
"If it is your stepdad and he has a good relationship with your mother, you are afraid that she will not believe you," she said.
Tumi Mosadi, SA programme director for Global Girl Media, says the objective of the programme is to give "the lacking voice of young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds a platform".
"They come up with their own stories. We train them in journalism, give them skills. A lot of the stories involve abuse and [substance abuse problems]. We are trying to change that but it is a reflection of what is happening," Mosadi said.
The girls' experiences echo the findings of a report by the Gender and Health Research Unit attached to the Medical Research Council and School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand that "South African youths appear to tolerate coercive sexual practices within dating situations".
Among the youths interviewed in the study, "forced sex was never described as 'rape' by the girls as 'it is with your boyfriend'".
"Though they might recognise the situation as abusive, they tolerate it because their partners say they love them," the report says.
- moengk@sowetan.co.za
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