Please show solidarity on April 24th with Tweets and Facebook messages for Noxolo

By Melanie Nathan, April 22, 2013

April 24, 2013 marks the two year anniversary of the brutal death of Noxolo Nogwaza. In 2011, twenty-four year old Noxolo Nogwaza, a South African lesbian and LGBT rights activist, the organizer of the Ekurhuleni Pride Organizing Committee, was murdered in South Africa, while on her way home from a night out with friends. Her attackers raped, repeatedly beat and stabbed her, apparently because of her sexual orientation, before dumping her body in a drainage ditch. Two years after her death, no progress has been made into the investigation of her murder and her killer(s) remain at large.

It is believed that Noxolo Nogwaza was raped by eight men and murdered in KwaThema township, near Johannesburg. This and other incidents represent what is known as ‘corrective rape”, in which men rape lesbians in what they see as an attempt to “correct” their sexual orientation, but in what is truly a hate crime. The practice is endemic in South Africa.

Despite having a fully inclusive constitution, LGBTI people in South Africa face enormous amount of homophobia. Taunts and insults are common, as are hate crimes like sexual assault and other physical attacks – particularly in rural areas and townships. The authorities’ have failed to educate the public and have failed to provide the necessary resources to investigate this and other similar crimes, exacerbating the persecution experienced by the LGBTI community, especially in these areas.

To mark the two year anniversary, of the death of Noxolo, Amnesty International, together with Ekurhuleni Pride Organizing Committee (EPOC), a local community-based organization, are organizing a Day of Commemoration in honor of all LGBTI individuals murdered due to their sexual orientation. A short memorial service will be held and participants will be given the opportunity to write messages of hope/condolence which will remain at the site as a memorial.

Amnesty members throughout the world are demonstrating their solidarity with Noxolo, and other LGBTI individuals who have been targeted simply because of their sexual orientation.

I am asking you, my friends here on OBLOGDEE, to support this effort and make your voice heard:

Amnesty International and other groups are encouraging people to send out messages of solidarity through Twitter, Facebook and other social media on that day.

We are also collecting messages of support that we will publish during the vigil.

You can also take action, urging the police to properly investigate and bring to justice those who murdered Noxolo and all cases of LGBTI violence in South Africa.

As human rights defenders, an LGBTI community worldwide, and LGBT allies, we have a responsibility to take a stand and ensure Noxolo, and all victims of violence, are not forgotten.

#Remember #Noxolo #DemandJustice #LGBT

THANK YOU for your love and support.

Melanie Nathan, [email protected]

https://oblogdeeoblogda.me/?s=Noxolo+Nogwaza&submit=Search

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/1865

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#Remember #Noxolo, Murdered in South Africa Without Justice (amnestyusa.org)