Pistorius' Slain Girlfriend Spoke Out Against Gender Violence

[HuffingtonPost]

* Model Steenkamp sought role in anti-rape campaign                

* Friends hope boyfriend's trial will bring justice                

By Stella Mapenzauswa                

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The day before her  Paralympics star boyfriend Oscar Pistorius shot her dead, Reeva  Steenkamp publicly proclaimed her support for a campaign against  the violence that kills thousands of women in South Africa each  year.                

On her Twitter page on Feb. 13, Steenkamp posted her support  for a "Black Friday" campaign urging South Africans to wear  black in honour of thousands of women raped and killed in the  country, often by their partners.                

The 29-year-old, who died in the early hours of Valentine's  day, wanted to use her rising profile as a model and girlfriend  of one of South Africa's most recognised sportsmen to raise  awareness of the scourge, her best friend, Gina Myers, said.                

"A couple of days before she passed away, she was saying how  people were so ignorant of the fact that (violence on women) is  going around," Myers told Reuters on Thursday. Steenkamp lived  with Myers and her family in the five months before her death.                

"She was starting to do these talks to women. It was   something she felt strongly about and she wanted to do something  with it."                

Raised in the eastern city of Port Elizabeth, Steenkamp  regarded the Myers as her "Johannesburg family" and she featured  in many framed pictures scattered around the house.                

Her bedroom, spartan with white linen and black curtains,  still bore the eerie evidence of Steenkamp's occupancy on  Thursday, with a handbag lying half opened on the bed while her  cosmetics were dotted on a dresser.                

Pistorius, a double amputee dubbed "Blade Runner" because of  his carbon fibre racing blades, faces life in prison if  convicted of the premeditated murder of Steenkamp.                

He denies the charge, saying he mistook her for an intruder  in his high-security suburban home.                

State lawyers believe Pistorius shot Steenkamp after an  argument, with neighbours telling police they heard "non-stop  shouting" prior to the gunfire.                

Steenkamp became another statistic in what has been  described as one of the world's most violence-ridden countries  outside a war zone.                

"I woke up in a happy safe home this morning. Not everyone  did. Speak out against the rape of individuals," she tweeted on  Feb. 10 in the wake of the gang rape, mutilation and murder of  17-year-old Anene Booysen near Cape Town.                

A recent survey by gender violence group Gender Links in  four South African provinces found that one in two women  experienced some form intercourseual or physical violence at least once  in their lifetime, including within intimate relationships.                

Despite her concerns about the often violent crime in her  homeland, Steenkamp, a law graduate-turned-model, had hopes for  the future and wanted to make a positive impact.                

"Reeva had a voice and she wanted to stand up for the things  she believed in. She wanted to change people's lives," Darren  Fresco, another of her closest friends, said on Thursday.                

"She wasn't just a pretty face. If you looked at her, you'd  think she was your typical 'dumb blonde', but she was anything  but that."                

Steenkamp's death has deeply divided South Africans, with  some backing Pistorius' assertion that the shooting was  accidental, and others believing Steenkamp was just another  victim of domestic violence that often goes unpunished.                

Many believe Pistorius's celebrity status could tilt the  odds in his favour.                

The prosecution suffered a blow on Thursday when the lead  investigator was pulled off the case after it emerged that he  faces attempted murder charges for firing on a minibus full of  passengers in 2011.                

Steenkamp's friends were cautiously optimistic justice would  prevail. "We need to trust in the process, that there will be  justice," Myers said.     (Editing by Ed Cropley)

Via: HuffingtonPost