With tensions running high and the number of protesters growing since Sunday night, two of the men whose names appeared on the list were reportedly held against their will and lectures were disrupted yesterday.
The protest arose after the launch of a rape culture awareness campaign which had prompted the Student Representative Council (SRC) to express support. However, when the SRC tweeted a picture of council members expressing solidarity, a student retweeted the picture, saying her friend’s alleged rapist was in the image.
In the wake of the outrage and class disruptions, the Grahamstown institution has committed to establishing a task team comprising staff and students to ensure stronger mechanisms to support victims of rape and sexual abuse. Police have also urged students to report such crimes to them, but counsellors claim the alleged victims are reluctant to do so because of the added trauma and low conviction rate.
The topic has been trending on Twitter since Sunday night, under the hashtag #RUreferencelist. The hashtag refers to the “reference list” in which the 11 names appeared – as students called on university leadership to take action against the alleged perpetrators.
The list has also been circulated on Facebook.
