At least 10 lesbian women are raped in South Africa every week, say human rights campaigners, by men who claim they are ‘curing’ their victims of homosexuality.
This horrific act is known as “corrective rape”, this disturbing trend is reported difficult to gauge as African police do not compile corrective rape statistics separately from other rape cases, says CNN.
Cherith Sanger, of the Women’s legal centre in Cape Town said: “It’s not just about a women being raped in terms of violence against women, but it’s also got to do with sexual orientation so it’s another ground or level of unfair discrimination levelled against lesbians.”
South Africa is the only country on the Africa continent to legalize gay marriage, and it is forbidden to discriminate based on sexual orientation.
It is also reported that the attacks are so violent that victims are often left permanently scarred or even fatally wounded.
Siphokazi Mthathi of the South African Human Rights Watch told CNN: “There is still a strong sense among men that they have power over women, women’s bodies and there’s also a strong sense that there’s not going to be consequences because most often there are no consequences.”
