What would you do if you saw someone being sexually harassed?
Sexual harassment is something that happens often and there are sometimes witnesses who might be able to help, but do they?
Oxford Dictionary’s Lexico defines sexual harassment as behaviour sby unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances in a professional or social situation. Sexual assault is defined as the action of forcing an unconsenting person to engage in sexual activity.
The latest crime statistics published by the South African Police Service shows that there were five sexual assault cases reported in Potchefstroom in the fourth quarter of 2020. There was one reported contact sexual offence and 18 reported cases of rape.
threestreamsmedia spoke to 50 students who have been enrolled at the North-West University (NWU) for two years or more about sexual harassment and assault. They were asked if they had ever witnessed sexual harassment or sexual assault in Potchefstroom.
Results revealed that 27 of the students reported that they had seen someone being sexually harassed and, in some cases, sexually assaulted. 16 of those students were men, while the other 11 were women.
If more than 50% of the participants had seen it happen, why are more cases not being reported in the crime statistics that are published by SAPS every quarter? Santi Britz, DA board member for the Bult, ward 22 of the JB Marks municipality, said that only one out of nine rapes are reported.
Dr Beverley Peens, a clinical psychologist in Pretoria, said that witnesses choose not to get involved in or report sexual assault due to various reasons. “Most people don’t want to get involved because it will complicate their own lives,” said Peens. The responsibility of intervening or reporting what they saw is something many people do not want.
Another reason is shock and how a witness responds to shock. “There are three responses to shock: fight, flight, and freeze,” said Peens. “Some people will freeze due to the unreality of what they’re seeing, other people will intervene, and other people will flee.”
A person can easily freeze when they see something surreal happening, such as someone being sexually harassed, or a drink being spiked. That person is in a kind of denial, not realising that what they are seeing is real, said Peens.
Peens said that we live in an era of much more sexual freedom, and that sexuality is much more open on social media and in the world in general. That is why witnesses do not always know whether they are seeing sexual assault or consensual interaction. “If a person does not fully understand the context [of a sexual interaction], they will not necessarily intervene,” said Peens.
“There isn’t an awareness of trouble, because when do they know it’s assault and when do they know it’s consensual?” Until it is made obvious by the victim or other people, witnesses will likely not be able to identify a sexual offence.
Research by the American Psychological Association shows that if a person witnesses a crime when there are other witnesses present, the chances of them intervening or helping are lowered. This is known as the bystander effect.
“Most people are afraid to make the first move, so they wait for someone else to do it,” said Peens. A group of witnesses will not do anything until someone else takes on the responsibility of helping the victim. Peens said that, “everybody’s waiting for that person to do something, and the natural leader will, but that is only if there is a natural leader there.”
Britz said that she and many others worked with the municipality, the NWU, and residents of the Bult area for the past four years to establish Cachet Park City Improvement District (CID). “It has greatly helped with the security of the Bult,” said Britz.
Cachet Park CID is a non-profit company working in the greater Bult area that provides security to students through Mooirivier Beskerming. Their office is located next to the Cachet Park parking lot, where security contractors are stationed 24/7.
Johan Naude, general manager of Cachet Park CID, said he is troubled by students who think of sexual harassment as something that isn’t serious.
Naude said, “we want to motivate students to come to us if something happens or if they feel unsafe.” He said that Mooirivier Beskerming can act quickly and that they are able to call in the relevant parties to support them in any emergency.
Witnesses of sexual crimes should report it to authorities if they do not want to get involved. (GIF: Eduard van Loggerenberg)
Naude encourages students to go to Mooirivier Beskerming if something has happened to them and if they think that it was filmed by one of the CCTV cameras in the Bult-area.
Roland Bekker, head of the CCTV surveillance team at Mooirivier Beskerming, said that a student who thinks they have been assaulted on camera can make a request for the footage at their offices.
There are various channels through which a person who has been sexually harassed, assaulted, or raped can get help. Thuso1777, Thutuzela Rape Crisis Centre at Potchefstroom Hospital, and iDUC all provide help for victims of sexual crimes.