Hon Chairperson, Cope supports the realisation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in all our communities. While South Africans remind themselves of the right to freedom of equality, many communities still accept gender-based violence. Approaching the courts, be it in criminal or civil procedures, also does not solve the problem at the time it needs to. We live in a violent society and therefore our measures to address gender-based violence should be in accordance with the crime committed.
It is indeed so that education will play a big role in the realisation of the right to equality, but the question that we need to address is: How do we ensure that equality prevails in our violent communities irrespective of our gender? The discrimination of women is a violation of our human rights. To kill a lesbian is not just a murder, but a crime that is fuelled by hate. Cope supports the creation of legislation to eradicate this hate. There is no specific hate crimes legislation in South Africa.
According to research, masculinity is a key to our understanding of hate crimes and gender-based violence. We understand hate crimes broadly. It is not just about one person saying "I am a lesbian", and the other saying "I hate lesbians", killing or raping them. It is about gender presentation; subverting male power in society; about women who don't need men, either for financial support or sexual pleasure; about women who wear clothes that are considered unfeminine, or drink in taverns late at night, or fight back when attacked.
Cope wants to know how we define a hate crime. Of course the police and prosecutors will refuse to investigate on the basis of hate if our definitions of the various crimes end without current common law definitions. Even to institute a civil suit will not remedy the situation, especially where the perpetrator does not even have the money to pay for the civil suit.
Statistics also further prove that perpetrators of hate crimes are themselves scared of something they don't know, fuelled by the inability to accept their own sexuality. Our communities in townships and rural areas need more education in this regard. It is in these communities that higher levels of homophobic hate crimes occur. It is also here where we find that schools show higher levels of gender abuse. In conclusion, I reiterate that we must prosecute all hate crimes against lesbians. I thank you. [Applause.]