Jan 18 2008

Africa, rape and racism

By John Baeyens | Share This South Africa

Karel De Gucht, Belgian's minister of foreign affairs is traveling to East-Congo.  He is flagging the 'sexual genocide' in East Congo and Belgium has to take the lead in doing something against it.  The sexual genocide in East Congo.  More than 70.000 women were raped in East Congo last year.  Horrifying, true.  But let's not fool ourselves, the war has hardly something to do with it. 
In South Africa, every 26 seconds a woman is raped; only 7% of these rapes lead to a conviction.  Even Jacob Zuma, the highly-plausible-new-president-to-be is standing trial for rape. 
Now, what is the thin red line in all of this: color.  No, I'm not referring to the fact that more than 30% of the black South Africans are HIV+ -no, the 'please use a condom seems not to work when they grab you-; I'm referring to the simple reality that the statistics proof us that nearly all rapes in South Africa are being carried out by black men.  Some South Africans are now angry that the press in South Africa writes more on white women being raped by black men than black women being raped by black men.  They have a point when you know that 9 out of the 10 women raped in South Africa are black.  But then again, if you know that one third of the children raped in South Africa are raped by their teacher, those statistics are not so surprising. 

Why is it so undone to write in a factual way on the epidemiology of rape?  Why is it political incorrect to plot the statistics in headlines; even when those facts are highly 'colored'?   Every Brazilian woman is trained that the risk is far more allarming when you are followed by a coloured man then when being followed by a white man.  Especially in summer -rape incidents are highly seasonal-.

Have fun on your trip to Congo, Karel.  But your efforts will change nothing on the number of rape cases in Africa. 

Comments

  1. Dieter Orens

    Dieter Orens said:

    I believe what you are saying, but I do not see the point. I'm totally not an expert in these cases, but obviously there must be a good reason for this.

    Maybe because the black, colored people are generally on the poor side, less educated and less civilized? Maybe there's a psychological explanation for this? More frustration? Anger?

    While the white ones are generally more educated and richer, with a different cultural background?

    I'm not defending this behaviour, don't understand me wrong, but I'm sure there is a deeper cause for this.

    Posted 18 years ago

  2. John Baeyens

    John Baeyens said:

    You wrote twice 'maybe', which is exactly my point. In none of the articles I referred to you will see any underground motivation on the 'why', no analysis, no (probably complex) sociological context. Only Karel De Gucht flying to the 'wilds' in congo who use 'new war techniques'... sensation... oh sensation. Reality is the number of rape cases in Congo is no different than in South Africa or amongst the Favelistas in Rio.

    So, why don't we analyse the true roots of the causes. Why do we prefer sensational news over complex realities? Why can't we write anymore the fact that the raping problem is a black problem and that as a consequence the 'positive discrimination' of blacks is far from over. As a woman in South Africa apartheid is apparently still allover: the chances of being raped as a black women are more than 5 times bigger than they are for white women.

    My point is that I prefer the complex hard reality of sensational shallowness.

    Posted 18 years ago

  3. Maggie

    Maggie said:

    The issue of rape is such an important issue and topic that it upsets me when any element of information hasn't been fact checked properly or presented accurately.

    Your post is from January 2008 and Jacob Zuma was on trial for rape charges in 2006. He was found not guilty despite his ludicrous testimony.

    When you wrote this article he was actually marrying a new wife into his polygamous union. However, you say: "Even Jacob Zuma, the highly-plausible-new-president-to-be is standing trial for rape."

    Please keep your facts checked.

    Posted 17 years ago

  4. Cultchic

    Cultchic said:

    I am "coloured", South African female... I was sexually abused......... twice. I am 24 now. As far as the "maybe's" go- I am educated and do not for a moment think of myself or the coloured men that Iknow as uncivilised! Furthermore, had you met the men who'd violated me, you know that they were educated, wealthy and theyr'e background is rather close to mine. However sociological and culture is something that I concede should be taken into account- like it should in any patriarchal systems within social groups. With regard to this article, I think one of the main reasons is the fact that men so often get away with their attack on women here, and when they are charged, the sentences are often pathetic- to the point that many women see no point in pursuing the matter. Sadly, had I been white, these men would have been splashed all over my local paper and the second man would have been able to just walk (where I am forced to face him at least 4 times a year- smiling!)

    Posted 15 years ago

  5. Jan

    Jan said:

    I believe a black man should die for every woman raped, mabey its time to start.......

    Posted 15 years ago

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