There is a disturbing report out of South Africa this week. The South African Medical Research Council has found that one out of four South African men said that they had raped someone and more than half admitted to raping more than one person.
One in 20 men surveyed said they had raped a woman or girl in the last year. Moreover, one in 10 men said that they had been raped by other men.
It is an astonishing report that supports what women have said in South Africa for years: that there is a rape culture in the country. Just having the country acknowledge this epidemic of rape is a major step forward.
For the full story, click here.
Sorry. Totally off topic, but is anyone else having trouble with WordPress, Google, Gmail and/or Youtube today?
Three Out of Four South African Men Have Raped Someone
Now there’s something a country wants on their tourism brochures.
B-Man,
No issues here.
Did Natalie Holloway end up in South Africa?
AY,
Aw, man. Come on! Didn’t that leave a bad taste in your mouth?
AY:
I always wondered if she did not end up in some brothel in SE Asia myself.
Urin Vandersloot (sp?) was such a piece of work, he should be in jail.
I’ve met a number of South Africans and I have never heard a good thing about any city there, except maybe Cape Town. Johannesburg, for example, sounds like something right out of Mad Max.
“It said practices such as gang rape were common because they were considered a form of male bonding.”
There’s your answer. The problem is social as much as it is criminal.
I read another article stating that 75% of the women in Liberia had been raped.
New Law Increases Penalty for Rape in Liberia
75% of men are raping women and 75% of women are being raped.
These numbers are way to high for me to believe that anyone is doing anything at all to prevent such.
BIL:
If what Jim Byrne said is correct, then there is something fundamentally wrong with the men in Liberia.
I know, I know I am a racist and a bigot.
A South African father ot two girls responded to the report:
“I don’t think it’s cultural per se; I think it has to do with how a lot of us men worldwide were raised. The issues of dominance against women, issues of inequality, are pervasive and you find them throughout the world.”
Misogyny as a cross-cultural imbued during childhood– wonder where anyone could get an idea like that?
Genesis 19:5-8:
They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so
that we can have sex with them.”
Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Qu’ran 2:223
Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) so go to your tilth as ye will, and send (good deeds) before you for your souls, and fear Allah, and know that ye will (one day) meet Him. Give glad tidings to believers, (O Muhammad).
Tilth translation: “have sex with your wife whenever you want to, her wishes notwithstanding.”
Your headline says “three out of four” but the body says “one out of four.” Which is it?
On a visceral level rape has always been incomprehensible to me. I’ve had a lot of sex in my life and to me it was always about fun and sensuality. I looked at the women who were my partners as bestowing a gift of intimacy upon me and early on knew that the sex wasn’t about my prowess in bed, but about my respect for my partner. This was inculcated into me by my parents as I became a teen in the 50′s. They were very open about sexuality and they prepared me very well.
The males I grew up with, for the most part, represented another mindset. That mindset saw sexual prowess and conquest as a reaffirmation of manhood. Women were looked at as “bastions” to be stormed and overcome. Metaphorical notches were bestowed on one’s private parts and indeed the size of those parts was considered a badge of manliness. How then could not the sickest of these male souls not see rape as a manly act.
The other great impetus towards rape, aside from the manhood issue, is religious in nature. The emphasis on sexuality as the major sin goes hand in hand with a misogynist outlook. The sad part of it is this requires a belief that God is more interested in what you do with your body, than whether you are good to your fellow humans. The sense of sinfulness makes sex “dirty” and that heightens the confusion of feelings that males have about it and to these tortured souls actually makes things like rape more appealing.
The dictum that rape equates to power, rather than sex is true. In most cultures manhood is seen as exhibiting one’s
power. I know little about South Africa culturally, but I would wager that the concept of manhood plays a large role in social mores for males. This is also true in Islamic countries where the system ensures most young men, hormones raging, have almost no outlet for relief.
I believe that the recognition of Gay Rights actually plays a salutary role in diminishing a culture of rape, because when there is a de-emphasis in a society upon the manhood concept, I think that eases the pressure upon males to prove theirs.
Mespo,
I think your translation of Genesis is innacurate. I’m no biblical scholar, but “to know” someone doesn’t always mean sex.
Lot had invited “two angels” into his home, and was trying to protect the angels when the evil men of Sodom came to his home to attack the angels. When the “bad men” came after them, Lot was willing to sacrifice his daughters to the evil desires of the bad men in order to save the city. (A noble gesture.)
Genesis 19:1-26
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him,
and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did
bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men
which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that
we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this
place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou
be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone
and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Jim,
Which Christian bible, with translated Pentateuch are you quoting from?
I read the article, and your headline is incorrect. 1/4 of SA men raped at least one person. 1/2 of that 1/4 raped multiple people.
1 in 8 are serial rapists is still not a wonderful statistic. That’s 12.5%. Not that 25% is a great rate for single incidence offenders.
Mike S.
The King James Version
Jim Byrne:
“I think your translation of Genesis is innacurate. I’m no biblical scholar, but “to know” someone doesn’t always mean sex.”
…
“I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”
**********
Well, it may have been that the girls were cloistered and didn’t know a man from a nanny goat, but I suspect ol’ Lot is telling us they were virgins. On the flip side, what would you expect an angry mob to do with two beautiful young waifs who were inexperienced in the ways of the world and when the mob was beckoned to do with them what they considered “good” (as in “let the good times roll”)? Parcheesi?
Mespo,
I’m not debating whether or not Lot was offering sex with his daughters in exchange for leaving the angels alone; I think the word “know” was lost in the translation.
The word “know” also pertains to having knowledge of.
It makes much more sense that the crowd would want to know who these angels are, than to want to have sex with them.
Swartsmore Mom,
I saw E today and she is doing well. Will see you Sunday.
JB,
“It makes much more sense that the crowd would want to know who these angels are, than to want to have sex with them.”
I’m thinking you haven’t been to some of the bars I have, Jim.
Google “to know in the biblical sense” and almost all of the hits will say it refers to sex. I’m Jewish and that is the accepted interpretation I learned and which is overwhelmingly accepted. The King James Bible is a translation of a translation and there is much within it that disagrees with original texts. Perhaps Christians can claim to have replaced
Judaism, but the original materials in the Torah come from our writers and have been interpreted by our scholars from before the inception of Christianity. This bible was completed in 1611 by a team of Christian scholars who were mandated to ensure that it conformed to Christian teachings. In that sense it really can’t be considered the authoritative rendering of the original and that doesn’t even address the fact that common English has changed greatly since 1611. See Shakespeare for proof of that.
Genesis 29:4-5:
And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they
said, Of Haran are we.
And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.
Translated to modern-day English:
And the bartender said; Where ya from? And the customer said Ohio.
Then the bartender said; You ever had sex will Billy the Son of Tom Martin. And they said, Yep, we had sex with him.
I lived in S.Africa so I have to say some things that might be unpopular. So many of the Africans we saw in those apartheid days were simply overflow from neighbouring African countries who came because the conditions in their own country were so much worse. I suppose the parallel might be drawn to the Mexican immigrant issue now in the USA.
We had a married couple as maid and gardener who came over 2 times a week and worked at 4 other houses. They were very happy and were paid well. They had a good house, a healthy son and a safe life. In the whole of Africa their lives would’ve been a dream compared to the rest.
She was a Zulu and he was a Sotho. She had been excommunicated from her community for marrying out of her tribe. The difference was remarkable. She was surely twice the size of him. They were not surly or resentful but happy and glad at their lot in life. I can’t imagine now what they are doing. Law and order have gone to hell and I’m sure before the “Cry Freedom” style of political activism that so melts the hearts of Western Bourgeoisie they would argue that personal safety and food on the table are the more important issue.
Apartheid was wrong and the skewed result of colonialist roots, but before the West insisted on throwing the people their “human rights” they might have insisted on a structured handover instead of passing off the nation to the rampantly corrupt Inkatha Party who dole out positions, funding and favours to their selected few.