Behind Closed Doors in White South Africa: Incest Survivors Tell Their Stories PDF
Preview Behind Closed Doors in White South Africa: Incest Survivors Tell Their Stories
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IN WHITE SOUTH AFRICA Also by Diana E. H. Russell AGAINST PORNOGRAPHY: The Evidence of Harm AGAINST SADOMASOCHISM: A Radical Feminist Analysis (with Ruth Linden, Darlene Pagano, Susan Leigh Star) CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN: The Proceedings of the International Tribunal (with Nicole Van de Wen) EXPOSING NUCLEAR PHALLACIES FEMICIDE: The Politics of Woman Killing (with Jill Radford) INCESTUOUS ABUSE: Its Long-Term Effects LIVES OF COURAGE: Women for a New South Africa MAKING VIOLENCE SEXY: Feminist Views on Pornography RAPE IN MARRIAGE REBELLION, REVOLUTION, AND ARMED FORCE: A Comparative Study of Fifteen Countries with Special Emphasis on Cuba and South Africa SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: Rape, Child Sexual Abuse and Workplace Harassment THE POLITICS OF RAPE: The Victim's Perspective THE SECRET TRAUMA: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women Behind Closed Doors in White South Africa Incest Survivors Tell Their Stories Diana E. H. Russell Professor Emerita in Sociology Mills College Oakland California Consultant Editor: Jo Campling 9£ © Diana E. H. Russell 1997 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 1997 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 0-333-64232-5 (hardcover) ISBN 0-333-64233-3 (paperback) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire Published in the United States of America by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 0-312-17374-1 clothbound ISBN 0-312-17375-X paperback To the incest survivors who were willing to share their pain and their triumphs with me and the reading public. May their courage and honesty be the help to others that they hoped for. S~ .^ZIMBABWE' \ BOTSWANA Walvis Bay MOZAMBIQUE TRANSVAAL NAMIBIA .Pretoria Johannesburg I SWAZILAND \ ,Welkom Newcastle ( ORANGE / FREE STATE /* \ NATAL • Bloemfontein \ Stanger SOUTH AFRICA CLESOTHO/ #Pietermaritzburg \ ^\ /Durban KTC Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Clanwilliam Leeu-Gamkalike GROOT, KAROO East London Wellington Prince Albert 200 kilometres Cape Town Port Elizabeth 200 miles Contents List of Tables and Figure viii Acknowledgements ix Map of South Africa xi About the Author xii Glossary and Abbreviations xiii 1 Introduction: Opening the Door in White South Africa 1 2 Tt Felt So Good to Stab My Father': Nida Webber's Story 13 3 'Kill Me, Rather': Elsa Foster's Story 36 4 There's a Sign on My Forehead Saying, "Abuse Me!'": Marie Malan's Story 60 5 The Making of a Whore: Lara Newman's Story 90 6 The Divine Right of the Father: Elsabe Groenewald' s Story 118 7 Conclusion: Paternal Despotism in Private and Public Life 151 Appendix: Tables Russell's Sample of Incest Survivors 170 Notes 173 References 177 Index 181 vn List of Tables and Figure Tables A-l Information on Sample of Incest Survivors, by Ethnicity 170 A-2 Information on Incest Perpetrators and Their Abuse, by Ethnicity 171 Figure 3.1 Family Tree - Elsa Foster and Marie Malan 39 vin Acknowledgements A very special thanks to Marcel Londt for her tremendous assistance in obtaining volunteers for this research, to Laurette Roos for her help in encouraging survivors to volunteer, to Charlene Thompson for her excellent transcriptions, to Kathleen Faller for reading an earlier version of the manu script and offering useful suggestions, and to Mary Armour, Karla Huebner, Janja Lalich, Erica Lutz and Gayle Pitman for their editorial assistance. I am also very grateful to Kenneth Carstens for checking my facts on South Africa and for evaluating the accuracy and reasonableness of my statements about the people and politics in that country. My debt to Judith Herman for her invaluable work on father-daughter incest is demonstrated by the many times I quote her (with permission) throughout this volume. The fact that her book Father-Daughter Incest was published in 1981 in no way diminishes its contemporary pertinence to this subject matter. A heartfelt thanks to Jalna Hanmer for putting me in touch with Jo Campling, a Consultant Editor at Macmillan, and to Jo Campling and Annabelle Buckley for their roles in deciding to offer me a contract for this book. Knowing that it will be distributed throughout the world is extremely gratifying. I want to express my appreciation to the following people for assisting me with this project in a variety of ways: Joanne Becker, Claudia Davidson, Michael Hughes, Moira Maconachie, Anne Mayne and Esther Rothblum. I would also like to acknowledge the Co-operative Research Programme on Marriage and Family Life at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa for their partial funding of the research on which this book is based. Last but not least, I want to thank all the incest survivors who volun teered to be interviewed for this study. I was, and am, profoundly moved by their willingness to trust and open up to me with the most astonishing honesty, and for their willingness to share their experiences with me and the readers of whatever publications have, and will, come out of this research. I must apologise in advance to any survivor(s) who may feel uncomfortable or critical of my attempt to place their experiences in the context of an examination of the relationship between racist and sexist politics in South Africa. This was not my original intention, and it was therefore not what I conveyed to them when they agreed to participate in this project. Hence, they bear no responsibility for any offence that may be caused by my analysis. IX
The list of books you might like
