Abstract
This article reports the findings of research conducted with a randomly selected sample of men aged 18–49 years from the general population of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, who were asked in an anonymously conducted survey about their rape perpetration practices, motivations, and consequences thereof. Overall 27,6 per cent (466/1686) of men had forced a woman to have sex with them against her will, whether an intimate partner, stranger or acquaintance. Some perpetrated alone, others with accomplices. Most men who had raped had done so more than once, started as teenagers, and often had different types of victims. Asked about motivations, men indicated that rape most commonly stemmed from a sense of sexual entitlement, and it was often an act of bored men (alone or in groups) seeking entertainment. Rape was often also a punishment directed against girlfriends and other women, and alcohol was often part of the context. A third of men had experienced no consequences from their acts, not even feelings of guilt. More commonly there was remorse and worry about consequences, and in a third of cases there had been action against them from their family, that of the victims, or respected community members, and about one in five had been arrested for rape. This research confirms that rape is highly prevalent in South Africa, with only a small proportion of incidents reported to the police. Many of the roots of the problem lie in our accentuated gender hierarchy. This highlights the importance of interventions and policies that start in childhood and seek to change the way in which boys are socialised into men, building ideas of gender equity and respect for women.
Highlights
South Africa has been dubbed the rape capital of the world, an epithet of quite uncertain validity
This paper presents an analysis of data from research conducted with a randomly selected sample of men from the general population who were asked in an anonymously conducted survey about their rape perpetration practices, motivations, and consequences thereof
The study was undertaken in three districts in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa
Summary
South Africa has been dubbed the rape capital of the world, an epithet of quite uncertain validity. In similar vein, conducting research with women who might be victims may lead to underestimating the magnitude of the problem of rape in South Africa Notwithstanding these limitations, research among pregnant women in Soweto found that [7,9] per cent had been raped by a non-partner as an adult, 5 per cent raped before the age of [15, 12,4] per cent raped the first time they ever had sex, and [20,1] per cent had been forced or threatened into sex by a husband or boyfriend.[5]. In South Africa important initiatives with men by community organisations and NGOs on gender equality include high profile media campaigns such as 'Brothers for Life' and 'One Man Can'. These interventions form one component of rape prevention strategies. It will aim to describe these, and reflect on their implications for developing appropriate responses to rape
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