This obviously isn't just a Socialist issue however, as the government in South Africa are turning a blind eye to such offences perhaps it's time other countries got involved. There is a desperate need to educate and prosecute the ignorant rapists of the area, yet nobody seems to want to do it. These men (read soul-less rapists) genuinely believe that by forcing sexual intercourse on a lesbian woman they can 'cure' her of her 'disease'. An idea that is being perpetuated by an apathetic leadership and incompetant criminal justice system.
Across the Country, women have been reporting cases of homophobic induced rape alongside similar abuse and general discrimination, yet it appears nothing is beng done to prevent it or address it. The National prosecuting authority of South Africa bluntly stated recently that hate crimes of a sexual nature, although rife, are not on their list of priorities right now, even though research has shown that 86% of lesbians in the country live in fear of being raped.
Zakhe Sowello, a lesbian from Soweto, told the Telegraph, 'Every day I am told they are going to kill me, that they are going to rape me and after they rape me I'll become a girl, when you are raped you have a lot of evidence on your body but when we try and report these crimes nothing happens, and then you see the boys who raped you walking free on the street'.
It is estimated that 500,000 women are raped every year in South Africa, an estimation that could be higher due to a large amount of attacks occuring unreported. Thirty one lesbian women have also been murdered in the past decade souly because of their sexual orientation, even though South Africa became the first African Country to permit Gay Marriage in 2006.
Rape in South Africa is also occuring unnecessarily and ignorantly as many HIV infected men believe that having sex with a virgin will cure them of their disease....
It's time the World Powers provided better education and protection for these people to stop such amazingly ridiculous crimes occuring anymore.
www.socialistparty.org.uk
This reminds me of a story I read about a few years ago, a women was campaigning in Zimbabwe for women to have the right to have sanitary product,they are not available out there, making if very difficult for women to carry on with normal lives, as you can imagine, she was raped by 49 men and if I remember correctly her children were killed. She carried on and was made Women of Year in Britain. Its all just too much for words. Great that you put this on your blog and the hilarious hyperlink "men"...
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy that men a) feel the need to inflict themselves on these women and b) that they get away with it. 49 men, that's beyond awful. You'd never catch a woman abusing a man like that, in any country.
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