South African Men Are Trash, and Here’s Why

The Men Are Trash movement began in South Africa in light of the recent and large amount of women who have been murdered by their male significant others or family members. After it quickly gained popularity, it sparked controversy. Men around the country commonly argued that “not all men” are trash.

This argument lies with misunderstanding. “Men Are Trash” does not literally mean that every living and breathing man is trash, it simply tackles the systematic political, social and economic privilege men in South Africa have and continue to abuse. From the wage gap, the lack of women in high positions in the workplace, the sexualisation of young girls, the double standards men perpetuate, and now the murder and rape of women, men have always had the societal upper hand.

Here are fourteen of the many women who have been killed in the last six months, further proving that the movement is vital:

1. Lerato Moloi. 27 years old. Murdered and burned in Johannesburg.
2. Hannah Cornelius. 21 years old. Raped and strangled to death in Stellenbosch.
3. Popi Qwabe. 24 years old. Raped and murdered in Johannesburg.
4. Bongeka Phungula. 28 years old. Murdered in Johannesburg.
5. Stasha Arendse. 11 years old. Raped and murdered in Cape Town.
6. Courtney Pieters. 3 years old. Poisoned, raped, murdered and later found in a plastic bag in Cape Town.
7. Candice Alberts. 32 years old. Murdered in Heidelberg.
8. Karabo Mokeona. 22 years old. Burnt to death in Johannesburg.
9. Rene Tracy Roman. 13 years old. Raped and murdered in Cape Town.
10. Nicola Pienaar. 28 years old. Murdered in Cape Town. She was pregnant.
11. Nombuyiselo Nombewu. 15 years old. Burnt and murdered in North West.
12. Priska Schalk. 29 years old. Murdered in Johannesburg.
13. Iyapha Yamile. 4 years old. Murdered and found in a plastic bag in Cape Town.
14. Lindokuhle Kota. 14 months old. Murdered in Cape Town.
15. Jeannette Cindi. 34 years old. 5 months pregnant. Raped, murdered and burned in Johannesburg.

These are all women who’ve died in South Africa in 2017 alone. Women who’ve lost their lives in the hands of men. Women who had their entire lives ahead of them. The problem does not lie in the name of the movement, it lies in the gender-based violence women face in the country every day. The only people who can change this problem are men themselves — change that will begin with admitting that there is a problem.

To help fight against gender-based violence in South Africa, volunteer and/or donate to the following charities or organizations: TEARS, POWA and Bobbi Bear.