This was mentioned at the Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Anglican priest June Major relayed her horrific rape in 2002, at the hands of her then Anglican minister.
Her faith in ministry was used keep her silent while she was forced to occupy the same place as her rapist.
Major says she was interrogated by the church and had to constantly prove that she was in fact violated.
“My Bishop at the time told me to stay silent to protect the reputation of the Anglican church, reminding me of my vow of obedience. In doing that, you have to obey what your Bishop tells you to do. It was very hard and tough for me. You get nightmares being in the same space as your rapist. A few years after my rape, my rapist was caught on camera at another church, in the church office, sexually molesting the secretary. My rapist continues to minister and I’m busy fighting that up to today.”
GBVF Summit | An update on finding solutions to abuse of women and children:
GBVF Council to relaunch
On Tuesday, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Council will be relaunched in three months’ time.
The long-delayed Bill is currently before Parliament after Nkoana-Mashabane published it last month.
“On the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill, it has been tabled in Parliament. Parliament will give us a date when the Bill will be completed, then we will develop regulations and we once again want to say, in front of our president and all South Africans, within three months, within this financial year, we can relaunch.””
Inter-Ministerial committee briefing on GBV and Femicide : Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
