Sexual violence in South Africa

South Africa

The rate of sexual violence in South Africa is among the highest in the world.

Statistics

According to a survey for the period 1998–2000 compiled by the UN, South Africa was ranked first for rapes per capita. In 1998, one in three of the 4,000 women questioned in Johannesburg was raped, according to Community Information, Empowerment and Transparency (CIET) Africa. It is estimated that over 40% of South African women will be raped in their lifetime and that only 1 in 9 rapes are reported. Thus, the average South African woman is more likely to be raped than complete secondary school.

More than 25% of a sample of 1,738 South African men from the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces admitted when anonymously questioned to raping someone; of those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person, according to a non-peer reviewed policy brief issued by the Medical Research Council (MRC). Several news publications extrapolated these results to the rest of the South African population. Nearly three out of four who admitted rape stated they had first forced a woman or girl into sex before the age of 20, and nearly one in ten admitted doing so before the age of 10.

Child and baby rape

South Africa has some of the highest incidences of child and baby rape in the world. More than 67,000 cases of rape and sexual assaults against children were reported in 2000 in South Africa, compared to 37,500 in 1998. Some cite a 400% increase in sexual violence against children in the decade preceding 2002. A third of the cases are committed by a family member or close relative. Child welfare groups believe that the number of unreported incidents could be up to 10 times that number. The largest increase in attacks was against children under seven.

A number of high-profile baby rapes appeared since 2001 (including the fact that they required extensive reconstructive surgery to rebuild urinary, genital, abdominal, or tracheal systems). In 2001, a 9-month-old was raped and likely lost consciousness as the pain was too much to bear. Another 9-month-old baby was raped by six men, aged between 24 and 66, after the infant had been left unattended by her teenage mother. A 4-year-old girl died after being raped by her father. A 14-month-old girl was raped by her two uncles. In February 2002, an 8-month-old infant was reportedly gang raped by four men. One has been charged. The infant has required extensive reconstructive surgery. The 8-month-old infant's injuries were so extensive, increased attention on prosecution has occurred.

A significant contributing factor for the escalation in child abuse is the widespread myth in HIV ravaged South Africa that having sex with a virgin will cure a man of AIDS. This myth exists in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The child abusers are often relatives of their victims and may even be their fathers and providers.

Corrective rape

Lesbians in certain parts of South Africa also face a dangerous environment. Especially in the black community, raping lesbians (a practice referred to as corrective rape) is believed to convert them to heterosexuality. The government has been accused of condoning the practice for fear of not appearing "macho." One notable case of this was the gang-rape and murder of Eudy Simelane, a member of the South African football team and LGBT-rights activist.

Attitudes

Among children, a survey by CIET found 60% of both boys and girls thought it was not violent to force sex upon someone they knew, while around 11% of boys and 4% of girls admitted to forcing someone else to have sex with them. In a related survey conducted among 1,500 school children in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling', a term for gang rape, was fun. More than half the interviewees insisted that when a girl says no to sex she really means yes.

See also

• Sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Crime in South Africa