Women in South Africa have a visible history of resistance to apartheid with a long list of veterans gracing the literature of liberation. Both inside the country and in exile they fought in the trenches as cadres, leaders, rank and file. Less known is the state's harsh response to the women who dared challenge it; in particular the violation of those who were detained and tortured is only beginning to be voiced. Torture and interrogation is vicious for everyone, but seems as if the South African security forces treated female detainees differently. Gail Reagon spoke to three former detainees whose status as women and as mothers was exploited and used as a method of torture.
