Study: Over 1 in 3 SAfrican Men Admit to Rape

A new survey says more than one in three South African men admit to having committed rape.

A 2010 study led by the government-funded Medical Research Foundation says that in Gauteng province, home to South Africa's most populous city of Johannesburg, more than 37 percent of men said they had raped a woman. Nearly 7 percent of the 487 men surveyed said they had participated in a gang rape.

More than 51 percent of the 511 women interviewed said they'd experienced violence from men, and 78 percent of men said they'd committed violence against women.

A quarter of the women interviewed said they'd been raped, but the study says only one in 25 rapes are reported to police.

A survey by the same organization in 2008 found that 28 percent of men in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces said they had raped a woman or girl. Of the men who had committed rape, one third did not feel guilty, said Rachel Jewkes, a lead researcher on both studies.

Two-thirds of the men surveyed in that study said they raped because of a sense of sexual entitlement. Other popular motivating factors included a desire to punish women who rejected or angered them, and raping out of boredom, Jewkes said.

"Rape is completely trivialized by a great number of men. It is seen as a legitimate activity," she said.

Jewkes believes South Africa's history of racial division and associated trauma is part of the reason of the high incidence of sexual violence in the country.

"Apartheid has contributed to culture of impunity surrounding rape in South Africa," said Jewkes. Men who were abused or experienced trauma during their childhood are much more likely to rape, she said, adding that apartheid destroyed family life, fostering violence and anti-social behavior.

The apartheid period also saw very little enforcement of common law, which has contributed to a culture of impunity, said Jewkes.

"We need to start interventions in childhood, focusing on building a more empowering childhood environment in South Africa, especially for boys," she said, "and we need to make it worth their while for women to report sexual violence."

The new study, conducted with a gender rights advocacy body, is the first community-based study of its kind with women in 12 years.

The group hopes to replicate the study across southern Africa.

[ellensmithee]

Wow, you like to blame this on everyone but the rapists. You know, it's possible to have such an open mind, that someone ***** on your brain.

[YrWrongAgain]

The original plan was to "rap" about Apartheid, but there was a typo.

[ellensmithee]

That was HILARIOUS!

[pkom-2009]

The U.S. and European countries are so enriched by immigrants who bring their culture
from places like Africa.

[mecanik-2009]

You have to look a this with an open mind and realize were trying to overlay our sense of morality onto a race that has barely come from the jungle within the last 100 years. It takes time for moral standards to develop in a society and establish itself as a standard to live by.

[jesseeoh]

The study traces the roots of this problem to the institution of apartheid, which is the product of a western, colonial government, not a tribal government.

[Void-Master]

The study says that 1 in 3 South African men admit to rape. The problem with that statistic is that men don't rape. At least not real men -- just men wanna-bes.

I suppose what I find most troubling is, if 1 in 3 admit to it, how many actually do it?

[jueni]

How did the researchers get men to admit so easily to such hideous crime? This is the kind of biased sexist reporting and lopsided statistics, which imply that rape cases observed within one province of South Africa can be correctly extrapolated to the rest of the country. With some allowances, one even wonderswhat makes the U.S. less chauvinist, with its rate of around 10 rape cases per second. Next time you publish such crap please think it over first!

[KPeters_from_UK]

Oh come on! Didn't you read the bit in the article where many of the men had felt no guilt? Didn't you read where the men had no understanding of the trauma caused by rape; they have no idea that rape is a hideous crime. If these men felt entitled and felt they had impunity why wouldn't they admit to rape? Again, they have no understanding that rape is a crime! Your inclusion of the fact there is 10 rapes per second in the US is erroneous. The per second needs to be understood in terms of total population. The higher the population of a country the more rapes may occur per second. Best indeicator would be to look at reported rapes...and please look at the word reported. The States: 0.301318 per 1,000 people compared to South Africa: 1.19538 per 1,000 people. Again, be careful with such stats because these are examining reported we have no idea of the actual number of rapes committed in different countries based on freedoms, education, women's rights, police and culture. For example in the States women are much more willing to bring charges against her attacker while in Saudi Arabia a woman is very unlikely to seek help. In addition, a husband has the right to rape his wife. So...Saudi Arabia 0.00329321 per 1,000 people...is this stat real?

[AnnieDanny]

I didn't understand apartheid until I was acquainted with a white SA man, and then I understood how entitled some of them feel they are. The very epitome of male chauvinist. Total self-centeredness and selfishness. Of course, there's a lot of men around the world who are like that. It's nothing new. But apparently the culture in South Africa had a tendency to nurture such bullying. There was a lot of white male domination in the culture, in society, which was just accepted as appropriate. I suppose that's changed a lot by now, but this guy I knew still doesn't "get it" what they did wrong. I suppose those bullies will live their whole life and never will get it. Many of them even use Bible verses to support their views and their domination, so they even feel self-righteous about their misdeeds. It's amazing how deceived people can be.

[watsegjy]

Haha my friend . This article is not refering to white people.

[jesseeoh]

It's referring to South African men, of which several are white, of Dutch descent. And apartheid is a system instituted by white men. So actually, the article is talking about white and black men.

[UForgotPoland]

Nothing can save this damn continent. Just isolate it from the world and come back 100 years later to see if anything has changed...

[sf_wes]

Try isolating the U.S. from other countries and see how far it comes in the next 100 years. The U.S. has always been several years behind in giving women and minorities the right to vote, kids the right to *not* be forced to work at the age of 10, and now gays the right to marry. I'm an American and I'm ashamed of this.

[YrWrongAgain]

That 1 in 3 number increases when they're all in prison.

[texbelle123]

This story didn't talk about it, but actually AIDS is part of the problem. For some reason, there is the popular belief in most African nations that raping a virgin will keep a man from acquiring AIDS, or will cure him of it if he already has it.