Shifting Sands: Public Discourses on Sexual Violence in the South African Muslim Community

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Margherita Picchi

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In South Africa, sexual violence is the focus of an intense national public debate that grew out of the anti-apartheid struggle and gave rise after the 1994 democratic transition to several campaigns aimed at addressing apartheid’s violent legacy and its harmful impact on women and girls. Muslims have not shied away from this debate. This chapter explores the historical development of public discourses on sexual violence elaborated within the South African Muslim community, focusing on two types of media: the press and the Friday sermon (khuṭba). In terms of sermons, special attention is devoted to the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town. The chapter ends with some reflections on the impact of the global “Me Too” movement on discourses on sexual violence and some recommendations for activists engaged in preventing and combating it.