"Corrective Rape" In South Africa

There is an enormous human rights problem sweeping South Africa. A disgusting trend called “corrective rape” is prevalent in South Africa and lesbian women are the targets of such abuse. To be clear, this violation of human rights isn’t just happening in South Africa, but it is by far the most rampant there. According to amplifyyourvoice.com, "corrective rape," often accompanied by vicious beatings or even murder, is intended to punish lesbians for not being heterosexual.” According to the same source, South Africa has rather liberal policies regarding LGBTQ community but homosexual women are being targeted by males as well as the highest levels of government. The Times Online states that there are 150 rapes a day reported in South Africa.

Possibly the most well-known case of “corrective rape” in South Africa involved Eudy Simelane, an openly lesbian soccer player who was beaten, gang raped and murdered in 2008. Since then, this “corrective raping” has increased as the men in South Africa feel their male dominance is being threatened. The justice for these women appears to be bleak for according to ActionAidUK, for every 25 men brought into court for rape, 24 will walk free.

The question that comes to mind here is: Why? Why is this still happening and why aren’t these men being punished? It appears to be less of an individual issue and more of a collective and societal problem. ActionAidUK affirms,

This shameful record of male domination and violence has helped build an increasingly brutal and oppressive culture, in which women are forced to conform to gender stereotypes or suffer the consequences.
As part of this oppression, the country is now witnessing a backlash of crimes targeted specifically at lesbian women, who are perceived as representing a direct and specific threat to the status quo.

So, why isn’t anything being done? Why aren’t other countries stepping in?

I wish I knew the answer.

I wish a lot of things.

I wish we could live in a world where women were free to express themselves fully and live in a way that made them happiest without being threatened with extreme violence and hatred. I wish that the women who were harmed and killed could have justice. Sadly, this cannot be solved by wishful thinking, only action. Action needs to be taken worldwide to help these women – they are our sisters. We cannot simply leave them without hope or assistance, we need to use our resources and step in.

In the west, we must realize that this is a hate crime and it is just as serious. We need to, even in the west, realize that heterosexuality is not the “right” sexuality. The whole idea of “normal” sexuality is what is keeping so many people in danger throughout the world. This horrible trend of “corrective rape” is ingrained into the social culture from centuries of male dominance and heteronormativity. There is a definitive root to this problem that needs to be examined and changed in order for these women to be saved. We must focus our energy to help save these women and bring them justice. We must take what we have and work towards helping all women worldwide in combating rape, violence and murder. To quote the fword.org,

“If we are to stand any chance of eradicating the injustices we suffer, then securing equality and rights for all women must be our priority - and to achieve that, one of the first steps must be a concerted effort internationally to tackle violence against us.”