Sexual violence ignored in prevention programmes

With one in three reported rapes in South Africa involving more than one man, gang rape has increasingly become a common form of sexual violence.

HIV/AIDS prevention programmes had to confront this reality, particularly among the youth, as gang rape carries a high risk of HIV/AIDS transmission, the Medical Research Council's Kate Woods said. Multiple men are involved, sex is unprotected and women are often injured, she added.

Data collected during long-term fieldwork in townships in the Eastern Cape and the North West provinces found that gang rape was most commonly done by a group of friends.

"But what was disturbing was how these young guys sometimes used gang rape as a way of disciplining or humiliating a young women they knew, usually a girlfriend who had done something wrong," she said.

The young men who participated did not view their actions as part of the crime of "rape" because they claimed that they had sexual access to these women, and a woman's silence entailed consent.

But a sexual rights campaign run by the University of Witwatersrand's Women Health Project and other NGOs, is trying to change that.

"Our campaign is advocating for a reduction of the high prevalence levels of gender-based violence in the country," said Latasha Treger, of the Women's Health Project.

"We are using a strategy of awareness, acceptance and ownership to ensure that women have the right to have control over their bodies."

The campaign has targeted communities and provincial governments in its education campaign.

"We need to see a shift in attitude, people have to know that forcing women to have sex is unacceptable and non-negotiable," Treger said.