Noxolo Nogwaza (1987 – 24 April 2011) was a South African lesbian

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

rights activist and member of the Ekurhuleni Pride Organising Committee. She was raped, then stoned and stabbed to death by assailants in KwaThema, Gauteng. Nogwaza had been with a friend at a bar the previous evening, and had a heated argument with a group of men who had propositioned her friend. Police found used condoms, a beer bottle, and a large rock around Nogwaza's body, which was left in a drainage ditch. The attack on Nogwaza appeared to be a corrective rape, a practice by which men sexually assault women believed to be lesbians in an attempt to "correct" their sexual preference. 31 women had been murdered during corrective rape in South Africa over the previous decade, and according to the rape survivor charity Luleki Sizwe, at least 10 lesbians per week were raped in the

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

area.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

described the attack as part of a hate crime "epidemic" against South African gays, comparing it to the rape and murder of footballer and lesbian activist

Eudy Simelane Eudy Simelane (11 March 1977 – 28 April 2008) was a South African footballer who played for the South Africa national team and an LGBT rights activist. She was raped and murdered in her hometown of KwaThema, Springs, Gauteng. Early life Sim ...

in the same township three years before. More than 2,000 people attended her funeral. At one point, some of the mourners sang that they would castrate the suspects with razor blades themselves if police failed to arrest them. 170,000 people worldwide signed a petition for authorities to crack down on corrective rape. Noxolo left behind 2 young children. After her death, the US-based nonprofit

GO Campaign GO Campaign is a national nonprofit organization based in Santa Monica, California, United States, that raises awareness and funds to help orphans and vulnerable children in the USA and throughout the world. Founded in 2006, the organization supp ...

stepped in to raise funds for the children's education and to promote a tolerance campaign for youth in the township.

and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

called the killing a

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

. A police spokesperson refused to classify it as a hate crime, stating, "murder is murder" and that police did not consider a victim's sexual orientation. No arrests had been made in the case of as November 2012. In November 2012, Amnesty International featured the case in its "Write for Rights" campaign, calling for a renewed investigation into the murder.

References

1987 births 2011 deaths Corrective rape South African lesbians South African LGBT rights activists 2011 murders in South Africa South African murder victims People murdered in South Africa People from Springs, Gauteng Rape in South Africa South African victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes Lesbophobic violence Violence against women in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-activist-stub