From GBV activist to award-winning author
A Cape Town activist to end violence against women and children has recently been handed the award in the poetry category of the 6th AfriCAN Annual Global Honoree Authors’ Awards for her book titled: “A Letter to My Perpetrator”.
The ceremony was held in Johannesburg under the theme: Unlock the BORDERS Africa, PEN Soldiers in Africa.
Latifah Jacobs, 47, from Kuilsriver, said while she was proud the book, which was published in 2022, has received the recognition, she could not take credit for the content.
The book is a compilation of poems by 14 people and 29 letters of survivors or their family members penning their emotions to the perpetrators who violated them or took the life of a loved one.
“Because of the type of book it is, I cannot be rewarded for others’ pain. The stories in the book are written by survivors. I am just a collector of their stories,” she explained.
Jacobs told IOL the idea for the book stemmed from sitting and doing court support.
She said the idea of the book is to show consideration for victims and their families.
“The award acknowledges survivors and their pain,” she said.
The book was started in 2021 during the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children.
Jacobs said she had been walking a long journey with those who contributed to the book and that the survivors stem from across the country from Gqeberha, Limpopo, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
One of the contributors is a mother from Wesbank in Cape Town who, without any heads-up from police, saw her son’s alleged murderer roaming the streets as she was hanging her laundry in her yard.
The case was thrown out of court due to lack of evidence.
“The impact I hope this book has is that other people see, that no matter happened to you, is not small. Your story matters. Your healing matters. I want people to understand their pain, although it may be different from others, it is theirs and we acknowledge it, “ Jacobs said.
The book has also benefited survivors who were able to sell the books.
“We supplied the books to the survivors at cost price and they could sell it. The profit I made was placed back into our organisation for workshops and more,” Jacobs said.
She is the co-founder of Aurorah, a volunteer-based organisation founded in April 2020 to address the growing demand for food supply and capacity building prompted by the Covid-19 epidemic.
Jacobs told IOL she hopes to have the book made available to prisoners.
“We hope to have the book distributed in prisons so perpetrators can see the impact they’ve had on survivors or the families of their victims,” she said.
Another book is set to be published later this year.
“There will be another book published during the upcoming 16 Days of Activism.
“The book titled: ‘From Surviving to Thriving’ will depict how people have moved beyond their pain,” Jacobs said.
A Women’s Month promotion for the book is currently under way and the book is being sold for R150, the normal price of the book is R200.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL