Rape In South Africa: Dangerously Casual

Few nations have as abysmal and grotesque sexual culture norms as South Africa.

Rape against woman in the nation is not some aberration committed only by deranged, sick men but by a large percentage of the population: In a Medical Research Council survey conducted in two provinces, more than a fourth of men aged 18-49 admitted to raping a woman at least once. And how many did it without willing to admit it to a researcher?

Unfortunately such debasement of woman has also stepped into the woman themselves. Many of whom subscribe to a Medieval belief that they as women are there for men to use at their pleasure: "According to recent research by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, a Johannesburg-based group, most black women believe a man has a right to have sex with his wife or partner whenever he wants."

Even more unfortunate: "Another study showed that most black teenagers felt it is fine to force sex on a girl if you know her or if she accepts a drink from you. (above link)" Rape is okay provided you simply know her.

Why many South Africans hold such views is beyond me. Many other African nations do not exhibit such a casual view of rape.

Rape is a national epidemic. In a nation of 50million, a 100 rapes are reported everyday and the figures are grossly under-reported. Only one in ten rapes is reported.

This is a national problem. Unfortunately in the past the nation has been undermined by chauvinistic leaders who attacked any criticism as being nothing more than coded racism and patronization toward black Africans as being nothing more than sexual beasts with uncontrollable appetites. That is a shameless and dishonest effort to distract attention from a national problem which desperately needs to be solved for the betterment of said African blacks.

And this is a national health crisis where 20% of the people are infected by HIV (one of the highest infection rates in the world). Need less to say, a casual attitude toward rape has increased the infection rate and makes combating it almost futile.

Men need to be told that sex is a two-player game and they never have the right to force a woman to sleep with them. And woman need to be empowered to believe that, again, sex is a two-player games. They are not merely vassels for men to put it in, but sex is a luxury for them as well and they need not offer it unless they want to. It is their body, they need to have self-repect and sex is about their choice. Cultural norms can change, and South Africa desperately needs them to.