During January 2018, 20-year-old Siam Lee went missing from what is believed to be a brothel in Durban North. Her charred body was discovered two days later on a farm in New Hanover. Philani Ntuli, the man accused of her murder, had bought her for sex before he allegedly murdered her.
KWANELE, a prostitution survivor-led movement, is protesting outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday 11 March between 08h00 and 15h00 to stand in solidarity with fellow member Carmen Nan Lee, Siam Lee’s mother, and all prostituted women in South Africa.
“Enough is enough! We are here to demonstrate and speak against the ills of the system of prostitution. We have been following this case and supporting Siam’s mother since its inception last year. We want justice for Siam Lee. Justice for Siam is justice for all the prostituted women who have suffered all kinds of violence from pimps, brothel owners and buyers. We want all the men who buy women to know that it is not okay to buy women for sexual acts. Women are not commodities to be bought and sold,” says Mickey Meji, Leader of KWANELE and Advocacy Manager at Cape Town headquartered not-for-profit organisation (NPO) Embrace Dignity.
Twenty-two years ago Theresa “Trish” van der Vint said goodbye to the other women in prostitution who were exploited alongside her until late in the afternoon on a tree-lined stretch of Old Faure Road near the Cape Town suburb of Eerste River. Most of these women were older and went home to take care of their children, however 16-year-old Trish stayed on a bit longer. As dusk fell that fateful Saturday, a man stopped and picked her up. Once she was in his car, there was no way out. A few hours later, her body was found. She had been murdered, lying half naked in the sand, covered with branches and near a footpath close to Macassar beach. Her legs were spread apart, skirt pulled up, and her jacket twisted around her neck and face. She was the 19th victim of the Cape’s infamous prostitute serial killer at the time. Murdered on May 15th 1996, Trish was his last victim – and also his youngest.
Seven years ago, the boyfriend of a prostituted woman whose body was found stuffed in a drain near Wessels Street in Pretoria suggested that her Nigerian pimp, from whom she had run away, could have murdered Wendy Riketso. Other prostituted women on the street confirmed that the pimp had tried to kidnap her several times.
In April 2013, Nokuphila Kumalo – a prostituted woman – was beaten to death in Woodstock, Cape Town. Renowned artist, Zwelethu Mthethwa, was convicted for her murder.
On August 18th 2014, the headless body of prostituted woman Desire Murugan (39) was discovered by Municipal workers at Durban’s Shallcross Stadium.
For these reasons, KWANELE stands in solidarity with Siam Lee’s mother and all the women who have died at the hands of men who had bought them for sexual acts.
“We are tired of being physically abused, raped and murdered by buyers, brothel owners and pimps,” Meji continues. “Siam Lee is one of the many women who have been brutally killed by a sex buyer. Philani Ntuli is just one of many buyers who highlight the way prostituted women are treated on a daily basis.“
Meji explains that this case also highlights an important message: this act had nothing to do with prostitution being illegal in South Africa, but rather with the behaviours of men who buy women for sexual acts.
“This shows that legalisation and full decriminalisation of prostitution will not make the sex trade safe for prostituted women,” she says.
KWANELE, a movement of survivors of prostitution, is incubated at Embrace Dignity – a feminist abolitionist human rights organisation advocating for the laws and social change to prevent sexual exploitation and violence against women.
Follow these hashtags on social media:
#JusticeForSiamLee
#OurBodiesAreNOTYourCrimeScene
#STOPKILLINGPROSTITUTEDWOMEN
#EndDemand