One in four men in South Africa may have raped someone - with most of those attacking more than one victim, data from a new survey suggests.
The study, by the country's Medical Research Council, also found three out of four who admitted rape attacked for the first time while in their teens.
It said practices such as gang rape were common because they were considered a form of male bonding.
The MRC spoke to 1,738 men in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces.
The study found that 73% of respondents said they had carried out their first assault before the age of 20.
Almost half who said they had carried out a rape admitted they had done so more than once.
Read the whole thing.
Shock 2.
I went to wikipedia to confirm the numbers. There's a table based on a UN report on 64 countries' rape statistics for 2001 and 2002. It shows raw numbers as well as the rate per 100,000 population.
Indeed, South Africa topped the list with rates of 121.16 and 115.61.
So, which country is number 2?
Canada at 77.36 and 77.64.
The wiki article points out the obvious difficulties with such statistics -- under-reporting, definition, false reporting.
And I know that Canada no longer has a 'rape' law, but rather 'sexual assault'.
Nonetheless, Canada is SECOND?
If you were wondering, USA is third at 31.85 and 32.99.
4 comments:
Christ! We need to raise a culture of Amazons, don't we? Women talking about stopping the violence isn't working.
It may just be that Canada and the US have a legal system which is better at facilitating the reporting, investigating and prosecuting of rapists - and that is what those stats reflect.
I cannot imagine that rape and various forms of sexual assault occur less in other countries.
Based on the reports from women in South Africa, a vast majority of them live in daily terror that rape or sexual assault will happen to them, a sister, a daughter or a friend because they know from personal experience that a great number of their countrymen engage in sexual violence with impunity.
I am with dBO here. Women in South Africa practically imprison themselves at night. It's hardly the case here.
Right now I am working late, my home office window wide open, and I can pick up sounds from blocks away.
No screams.
Thank God.
Found this. As I thought, in Canada, reports of sexual assaults appear to be handled with diligence, in contrast with the incidents reported in London, England.
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