CHARLENE SMITH - TRUE SURVIVOR

Journalist and author Charlene Smith was raped and stabbed in her Johannesburg home by an intruder in 1999. A week later she went public with her ordeal in trying to receive post-exposure HIV prophylaxis. This harrowing experience eventually led to two books, the second of which was recently published, and made her a survivor and fighter for rape survivors in South Africa. She refused to be a victim and has since counselled thousands of women. Proud of Me, her first book aimed at helping rape survivors, was about coping with the aftermath of the rape and her journey. The second book, Whispers on my Skin, is about relearning intimacy after experiencing violence. It is filled with real stories and provides a roadmap to healing. In 2000 she was invited by the Center for Disease Control to address scientists, as a result of which CDC embarked on its protocol for PEP for survivors of sexual assault. She is considered an expert on sexual violence and HIV and has been invited to present papers and chair sessions at many conferences and seminars globally, including the World AIDS Conferences.

Charlene was born in Johannesburg and grew up in Zambia. She began her political journalist career at The Star, and later moved to the Sunday Tribune (where she was also deputy bureau chief), Business Day (where she was also deputy news editor), Sunday Times, Financial Mail (where she was associate editor) and Finance Week (where she was assistant editor). She has worked as a producer for ABC’s Nightline under Ted Koppel and for CBS 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley. Charlene has also worked on a number of documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1985 to 2009, including two award-winning documentaries on Nelson Mandela and one on South Africa’s democratic transition. She is also a highly regarded media consultant with considerable expertise in multimedia, and has lectured at numerous colleges and universities.

She moved to United States after a close friend and neighbour was murdered. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is studying for a Masters of Fine Art part-time, working on a book on prescription drug overmedication and addiction, and writing a novel. She enjoys leading guided tours of the Boston area and has developed a smartphone application for tourists, called South Africa Travel: The Rainbow Nation.

South Africa Travel: The Rainbow Nation is the first app on South Africa for tourists written from a South African’s point of view. It has more than 3 000 photographs, 400 videos, Facebook and Twitter entries, and close to 60 cities, towns and villages. Every four to six weeks the app gets upgraded.