South Africa has come a long way in terms of at least discussing it's trouble past of race relations. Unfortunately they're still struggling to get serious about rape but maybe with a horrifying study like this, the debate may start to change. During my time in South Africa I had to stop reading the newspapers due to the ugly stories of rape, often related to false HIV cure myths or gang rapes. As much as I loved the country, the reports were beyond anything I ever read anywhere.
Nearly 28 percent of men interviewed said they had forced a woman or girl to have sexual intercourse against her will, according to the survey. It said that 14 percent said they had raped a former or current girlfriend; 12 percent said they had raped someone who was not their partner; and 10 percent said they had raped both a stranger and a partner.
The research council survey said that nearly 20 percent of those who admitted sexual abuse had the AIDS virus — only slightly higher than the 18 percent infection rate among men not involved in rape.
It said that 17 percent of the men surveyed admitted to attempted rape, and 9 percent said they had taken part in gang rapes. In all, 42 percent of men surveyed said they had been physically violent to an intimate partner (current or ex-girlfriend or wife), including 14 percent in the past year.
"Our study suggests that the pathway which leads to these ideas and the practices of rape and other forms of violence toward women starts in childhood," said Jewkes, head of the research council's gender and health unit. She said the results backed up findings of earlier research among younger men.
