Talking about rape: South African men's responses to questions about rape

Abstract

abstract This focus is based on a series of cognitive interviews conducted as part of a broader quantitative study on rape in South Africa. During the process of refining the questionnaire, 20 men from the country's Eastern Cape province, aged between 18 and 49 years, were asked to comment on questions about attitudes towards and practices of non-consensual sex with women. The men were divided in their views but most expressed fairly traditional rape-supportive attitudes. None of the men expressed discomfort with the attitude questions because they did not feel challenged by these ideas. In contrast, the questions about practices, which asked about very specific behaviours, caused conspicuous discomfort. This was largely because they provided a context in which men were confronted with their involvement in non-consensual sexual acts. This focus explores how these men responded to the questions and argues that, despite such discomfort, men are able to speak honestly about rape where anonymity is guaranteed. In the context of working with men to limit violence against women, if conducted appropriately, the process of research can serve to counter discourses that currently legitimate rape and include men in processes of gender transformation.