“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”
– Rumi
Welcome to our space. My name is Naira and I invite you on a journey. Like all journeys there are wonderful aspects to it . However, it is not unusual for little or huge things to go wrong, no matter how well you plan. A bit like life. For the majority, these are minor setbacks and can be overcome. You will soon forget and move on with your life. This is so for the majority of us. Not all are so lucky. You can begin a new life with a partner you love with huge expectations. Big dreams- but wow! who is this person? I don’t know this violent, abusive person. This is an unrecognisable stranger who takes any opportunity to snarl, belittle or physically hurt you. Or who is taking the light from the eyes of this girl? The light has been swallowed by a parents she trusted. Or her partner whom she loved.
Sun on your Back is one such journey. It is the story of Diara Kruger, a woman of mixed race who has grown up in an environment of racial segregation and violence. The story begins in London in 2007, where she receives a call from her family in Zimbabwe to report the death of her father, killed allegedly, by her mother. There is more about Diara’s story in the synopsis of the book below. The frightening truth is that the events of her life may have been over a decade ago in Zimbabwe, the happenings in the last month in the UK indicates sadly that nothing has changed. Women and children are still vulnerable to being killed, stalked, beaten and sexually assaulted on a daily basis.
Sarah Everard, a young woman in her thirties, who lived in London, was abducted and murdered allegedly by a person in a position of power and trust. The death of Sarah, has brought forth huge outpourings from other women who speak out about the harassment and inappropriate behaviours that they are subjected to on a daily basis. A very important question here is that why has it taken the painful death of one woman to release the pain of others? Is anyone listening to them? Are they seeking help? If not, why not?
The sanctity of female life will not be taken seriously, if their deaths are not deemed important by the criminal justice system. An excellent example is the death of Ruth Williams in Wales. Ruth was killed by her husband Anthony in March 2020. Williams told police that he ‘snapped’ when his wife told him to ‘get over it.’ He proceeded to chase her from their bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door. She was found dead on the front porch. Williams told police that he ‘literally choked the living daylights out of her.’ Ruth had indeed died from pressure to the neck and numerous neck fractures. Is it easy to discuss a life partner so flippantly? The judge gave him a sentence of five years, of which he would serve half. The fact that he killed his wife was explained by the judge as ‘irrational anxiety,’ caused by his obsessing about the coronavirus. If his anxiety was recent, why was Ruth running away from her husband if it was unusual for him to be angry. What message is the sentence that Williams got sending to people who feel the urge to kill their partner? In the UK, a five year sentence is recommended if you sell a firearm without a licence, assault with bodily harm or female circumcision. Are these examples the same as taking a life? Statistics on domestic and sexual violence are also showing a negative pattern. Although, the number of reported cases have doubled since 2015, the number of actual convictions have halved. What is all this telling us about the protection offered by the criminal justice system to women and children? Would the sentence had been higher if a woman kills her husband?
Diara’s journey in Zimbabwe is no different from our discussion above.
André’s Story is a short but compelling analysis of the elements that contributed to the development of a violent human being. André’s life experiences are documented from the age of five in a modest boarding house in Cape Town run by his older parents, François and Elspeth. As a result, these parents, eternally grateful for their unexpected gift were lax in setting any restrictions during the early childhood of their child.
During André’s fifth year, a young guest arrived from Johannesburg to take up an internship on wine making at a big winery in the suburb of Constantia. Joshua West was to be an important part of the life of the Kruger’s for over four years and would leave behind wounds which would fester for a lifetime. André’s early childhood experiences and the poor decision-making skills of his parents impacted harshly on his lack of skills in resolving conflicts peacefully and his disregard for legal and moral boundaries.