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| Dec 06 2009 05:21 | LAST UPDATED Dec 06 2009 05:21
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One in four men in South Africa haveadmitted to rape and many confess toattacking more than one victim, according toa study that exposes the country's endemicculture of sexual violence.
Three out of four rapists first attacked while still in their teens,the study found. One in 20 men said they had raped a woman orgirl in the last year.South Africa is notorious for having one of the highest levels of rape in the world. Only afraction are reported, and only a fraction of those lead to a conviction.The study into rape and HIV, by the the Medical Research Council (MRC), asked men to taptheir answers into a PDA device to guarantee anonymity. The method appears to haveproduced some unusually frank responses.Professor Rachel Jewkes of the MRC, who carried out the research, said: "We have a very, very high prevalence of rape in South Africa. I think it is down to ideas about masculinity  based on gender hierarchy and the sexual entitlement of men. It's rooted in an African idealof manhood."
Jewkes and her colleagues interviewed a representative sample of 1 738 men in the Eastern
Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.Of those surveyed, 28% said they had raped a woman or girl, and 3% said they had raped aman or boy. Almost half who said they had carried out a rape admitted they had done so morethan once, with 73% saying they had carried out their first assault before the age of 20.The study, which had British funding, also found that men who are physically violent towards women are twice as likely to be HIV-positive. They are also more likely to pay for sex and tonot use condoms. Any woman raped by a man over the age of 25 has a one in four chance of her attacker beingHIV-positive.
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MRC: Quarter of men in South Africaadmit rape
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| JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jun 18 2009 12:1832 comments|Post your comment 
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http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-06-18-quarter-of-men-in-south-africa-admit-rapePage 1 / 9
 
One in 10 men said they had been forced to have sex with another man. Many find it difficultto report such attacks to the police in subcultures where the concept of homosexuality istaboo.The government has been repeatedly criticised for failing to address the crisis. Only 7% of reported rapes are estimated to lead to a conviction. Jewkes said: "There's been a lot of concern about the way the criminal justice system works, because it's still woeful.""The findings highlight the very high prevalence of rape in South Africa and the highprevalence of HIV in the adult population," said the executive summary of the report."The prevalence of rape has similarities to that found in other studies in South Africa. The very high prevalence shows that generally rape is far too common, and its origins too deeply embedded in ideas about South African manhood, for the problem which can bepredominantly addressed through strategies of apprehension and prosecution of perpetrators."Jewkes told the
Mail & Guardian Online
on Thursday that while the survey had only focussedon two provinces, there was no evidence to suggest the findings would be different if it had been run countrywide.The report said a much broader approach to rape prevention was required."This must entail intervening on the key drivers of the problem which include ideas of masculinity, predicted on marked gender hierarchy and sexual entitlement of men. Efforts tochange these require interventions on structural dimensions of men
’
s lives, notably education and opportunities for employment and advancement," it said.
Political leadership
Before his election as president, Jacob Zuma stood trial for the rape of a family friend. Hissupporters demonstrated outside the court, verbally attacked his accuser and sang "burn the bitch, burn the bitch". Zuma was eventually acquitted.Jewkes added: "The social space for debating these gender issues is now smaller than it was afew years ago. We need our government to show political leadership in changing attitudes. We need South African men, from the top to the grassroots, to take responsibility." Anti-rape campaigners said the shocking figures demonstrated the need for reform. DeanPeacock, co-director of the Sonke Gender Justice project, said: "We need to make sure thecriminal justice system is held to account. We have lots of discussion in this country, but notenough action is taken to ensure that perpetrators will face consequences."Peacock added: "We're at a complicated moment in South African history with revivedtraditionalism and there's a danger of gender transformation being lost."We hear men saying, 'If Jacob Zuma can have many wives, I can have many girlfriends.' Thehyper-masculine rhetoric of the Zuma campaign is going to set back our work in challengingthe old model of masculinity."Carrie Shelver, an activist with People Opposing Women Abuse, said: "Generally there's adeficit of understanding and commitment to women's rights by the leadership of this country.It's simply not on people's agenda." A report published by the trade union Solidarity earlier this month said that one child israped in South Africa every three minutes, with 88% of rapes going unreported. It found thatlevels of child abuse in South Africa are increasing rapidly.
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Damn, South African 'men' are ****ed up beyond all repair.
Sinudeity @gmail.com
on June 18, 2009, 1:12 pmReal men DON'T rape! Be careful out there ladies (and men!), it could happen to any of us at anytime, and according to this there is a 1 in 4 chance your attacker may be HIV positive. Try not to beafraid, name and shame and make sure you get ARV treatment immediately should the worsthappen.
Cat Murray
on June 18, 2009, 2:30 pmFirstly: This is definitely a strange study. The Number of people involved in the survey and theGeographical locations of the survey do not represent South Africa enough for the heading to simplyread "Quarter of men in South Africa admit rape"Also to say "I think it is down to ideas about masculinity based on gender hierarchy and the sexualentitlement of men. It's rooted in an African ideal of manhood." is pure and simply a fallacy. Surelybeing a Professor and all, Professor Rachel Jewkes should know that rearranging her preduces oropinions doesn't always qualify as "Thinking". She also says "...and its origins too deeply embeddedin ideas about South African manhood." As a South African Male I am rather shocked, disgusted andinsulted by this particular notion. It is baseless! There is a lot of rapping of Toddlers and very youngkids lately; Do we then say the motivating factor for these imbiciles has to do with South Africanmales percepetion of Manhood? I mean for one have never been under any form of peer pressure toprove my manhood by sleeping with an unwilling female or for that matter known someone or afriend who was under that kind of pressure. Rapists are simply sick people who deserve to keptaway (for life if I might add), Not people who were raised in a society that makes rape look right likethe Professor suggests.Secondly: Surely some one has to defend the Justice System at some point (I am not saying it is rightthe way it is). Rape can be that complex a crime, I know many a guy who has been a victim of avindictive female. The system is there to protect the innocent (yes including the rape victims) but dowe then say: "As long as it is a rape case, the victim is therefore always right." Note that I am notdefending the system for its shortcomings (delays,loss of evidence etc) I just think a conviction rate isnot a measure of how effective the system is?????
Tinashe Nkomo
on June 18, 2009, 3:21 pmThe survey should have asked:Do you feel guilty about the rape/s you have committed?If so, do you think you should have been arrested for it?Those two questions would reveal a great deal about the psychology of these men. If there is nofeeling of guilt, we are dealing with two kinds of pathology: the cultural assumption of maleentitlement and the absence of a social conscience with regard to criminal behaviour.To narrow the field of possible motives or behavioural 'triggers' it would also be useful to know:If the majority of those who admitted to rape thought they could 'get away with it', would they try itagain? A. Yes B. No C. Not sureIf so, why? A. Not afraid of arrest. B. Not afraid of conviction if arrested. C. Why not?Psychopathology is a highly complex problem but when there is tacit acceptance of criminalbehaviour in general in a culture, the problem is even more complex. Until we have better answers,we should be educating girls and young women--in martial arts.on June 18, 2009, 3:24 pmWell done to all those who contributed to the finding of this report. Now that the public is aware of thereal rape statistics in this country, we are able to put more pressure on organs of state responsiblefor the protection of women in our society.
Michelle Watson
on June 18, 2009, 3:38 pm@Tinashe Nkomo:I think you have a valid point about extrapolating these survey results to say that 25% of all men in thecountry have raped. The fact is though that something like 500 000 women are raped every year(correct my figures please if I'm wrong), never mind the children which is just beyond disgusting, so
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-06-18-quarter-of-men-in-south-africa-admit-rapePage 3 / 9
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