For the dozens of women training at a shooting range near Johannesburg, learning how to use a gun has become a means of protection in a country where a woman is murdered every three hours.
South Africa is among the most violent countries on Earth, and its homicide rates are constantly increasing.
In 2019-2020, the country suffered 21,325 murders, according to the latest annual police report — up 1.4 percent from the previous year.
“Women are targets in this country,” says Matsie Noge, another participant in the training organized by the Gun Owners of South Africa association.
South African women gather at the lower end of a shooting range as they take part in a training organized by the women empowerment group Girls on Fire, in Midrand, on February 07, 2021. – Gun Owners of South Africa’s Girls on Fire campaign was created in 2015 to coincide with the 16 days of Activism from the United Nations.
For the dozens of women part of this campaign learning how to master a firearm is a way of protecting themselves in a country where a woman is murdered every three hours.
“These pieces of training have a focus on young black women, statistically most impacted by crimes,” says Themba Kubheka, who organized the female-only training for GOSA.
Some 4.5 million guns are used legally in South Africa, with almost the same number again circulating on the black market, according to Gun Free SA, a group that campaigns for arms control.
South African police receive 110 rape accusations every day.
Comparing the levels of sexual violence seen in South Africa to those suffered in a country at war, President Cyril Ramphosa announced in late 2019 that tackling the scourge of abuse would be a national priority.
Women and children are under siege,” he said at the time, describing South Africa as one of “the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman”.
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