“Corrective” Rape Should Be a Hate Crime

The international NGO ActionAid just released a chilling report documenting the rise of “corrective” rape of lesbian women in South Africa. According to ActionAid, South African men are attempting to “cure” these women of their sexual orientation by raping them. ActionAid writes that rape survivors “said that verbal abuse from their attackers before and during the rape included them ‘teaching us a lesson’ and ‘showing us how to be real women and what a real man tasted like.’”

Shocking enough, but what makes it even worse is that these crimes often go unpunished. British newspaper The Guardian describes the “culture of impunity” in South Africa with regard to “corrective” rape and other crimes committed because of sexual orientation.

The rape conviction statistics are bad enough. Only one out of every 25 men accused of rape in South Africa is convicted–and with the number of rapes estimated at about 500,000 each year, that’s a lot of rapists walking free. And with violence against women that commonplace, it’s not surprising to see a dramatic rise in the number of crimes targeting lesbian women, who, as ActionAid says, “are perceived as representing a direct threat to a male-dominated society.”

In Cape Town alone, there’s an estimated 10 cases of new “corrective” rape each week, according to gay and lesbian support groups in the area. And the crimes intensify; at least 31 women have been murdered in homophobic attacks since 1998–and that’s just what can be directly tied to sexual orientation. The lack of prosecution is evident there, too, with only one conviction in any of the 31 murders.

What can be done? Although South Africa’s constitution recognizes rights of gay and lesbian people, its legal system does not view crimes committed against gay and lesbians on the basis of sexual orientation to be hate crimes. The South African legal system must recognize “corrective” rape as a hate crime in addition to a rape in order to establish a greater punishment for this brutal and widespread act of sexual violence.

And that culture of impunity must be overcome, with the legal system focused on making “corrective” rape a crime for which perpetrators are tried and convicted. Join me in calling on South African Presidnet Kgalema Motlanthe to deem “corrective” rape a hate crime–and punish it to the strictest extent of the law.

Read more: ActionAid, civil rights, corrective rape, rape, south africa

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Kenneth B.

6:22PM PDT on Apr 16, 2009

IM TALKING ABOUT COP. WHERE R THEY!!

send a green star

4:54PM PDT on Apr 9, 2009

Sometimes they are...if you're close to a doughnut shop when you need them. I ALWAYS SAY THE SAME THING.

12:32PM PDT on Apr 3, 2009

COP R NEVER THERE WHEN U NEED THEM. 2Mike Donnelly

Dale M.

1:51AM PDT on Mar 27, 2009

Thank you, Daniel Lovejoy. I have felt the same way for a long time.

I am very tired emotionally. I know the "rules" that this society teaches, but since they go against my beliefs on unconditional love, I ignore them.

I wish the "mothership" would come and take me home...

4:56PM PDT on Mar 26, 2009

ALL RAPES ARE CRIMES. THEY THINK THERE GETTING AWAY WITH ANYTHING WE NEED MORE COPS

4:49PM PDT on Mar 26, 2009

Lisa Schembri.THEY R WRONG!!

4:43PM PDT on Mar 26, 2009

MIKE THEY R BEENING A JACKASS.

4:39PM PDT on Mar 26, 2009

THEY R FAMILY AN WE LOVE THEM AN THEAT THEM AS WE LIKE 2 B TREATED. RAPE SOUNLD B PUNEST

Katy M.

9:21AM PDT on Mar 25, 2009

WOW...thats crazy! But i have to agree with David A. in this perticular subject. If we would enforce our laws and follow through with them then we could cut down on alot of violence. LGBT's are just like you and me. Actually my daughter's best friends are bi-sexual's, gay's, or lesbian's! We welcome them and we treat them like family. Others should try to do the same.

Mike D.

10:22PM PDT on Mar 23, 2009

There will never be an end to rape, when law enforcement encourages it in almost every country. South Africa is no worse than the US, where gay men are brutalized by "normal" men in vicious gang rapes. What ever happened to the idea of the punishment fitting the crime? Are these gay men sent to prison for being gay? If so, why do most prison officials think that raping them is OK?