Coinciding with International Women's Day, this Friday on Al Jazeera’s new global talk show South 2 North, Redi Tlhabi discusses the global rape epidemic with Professor Ratna Kapur, Professor Farid Esack, and Dr. Amelia Kleijn. 

In December 2012, 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Pandey was gang-raped and savagely beaten on a bus in Delhi, India. She subsequently died from her injuries.

In February 2013, on another continent, in South Africa, 17-year-old Anene Booysen was brutally gang-raped - her intestines left lying next to her body. She too died.

Then last week an official report in the UK revealed that a London police sex crime unit pressured a woman to drop a rape claim against a man who then went on to murder his two children.

Rape knows no boundaries and doesn’t discriminate on grounds of wealth, race or religion.

On South 2 North this week, Redi will ask how we begin to understand and stop this global epidemic of sexual violence.

It’s an important conversation for her. Redi is also a radio presenter on 567 CapeTalk and 702 Talk Radio, two stations who interrupted their broadcasts on 8 February 2013 with a beep every four minutes, to remind listeners of the rate at which rape occurs within South Africa.

On South 2 North, Redi will speak to Professor Ratna Kapur, Professor of Law at Jindal Global Law School in Delhi. Professor Kapur lectures the world over and works for the UN as a Senior Gender Advisor In Nepal.

Redi will also talk to Dr. Amelia Kleijn, a social worker in South Africa, and Professor Farid Esack, head of The Department of Religious Studies at The University of Johannesburg.

This week’s episode of South 2 North premieres at 19:30 GMT on Friday, 8 March 2013, as well as Saturday at 14h30, Sunday 04h30 and Monday 08h30.

Additionally, on Thursday at 22h30 GMT, Al Jazeera English programme 101 East will air a 30-minute film that speaks to men who admit to rape and violence against women, and asks them what it will take to change attitudes.

For more information, visit http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/south2north/, where all episodes are available to watch online.