A recent survey conducted by Professor Rachel Jewkes of the Medical Research Council (MRC) claims that one in four men in South Africa admitted to committing rape. She says: “I think it is down to ideas about masculinity based on gender hierarchy and the sexual entitlement of men. It’s rooted in an African ideal of manhood.”
The Mail & Guardian article smacks somewhat of sensationalism which I don’t appreciate and apparently many readers don’t either. However, we can’t deny some of the facts: “South Africa is notorious for having one of the highest levels of rape in the world. Only a fraction are reported, and only a fraction of those lead to a conviction.”
Read the full article in the Mail and Guardian here. (Thanks to Lisa Thompson for the heads up.)
It didn’t help that I read Chapter 4 in “The Shackled Continent; Africa’s Past, Present and Future” by Robert Guest this morning during my centering time. It’s entitled: “Sex and Death.” (Will have to write more on that soon.)
Then when I opened my email tonight, I clicked on the link for a girl who is now following me on Twitter. Apparently she’s looking for a husband. I just felt so sad.
Honestly, I want to cry, but I am going to pray:
God of the Universe,
Your women are broken, shattered, raped
Beauty is ravaged, distorted, twisted.
Her life force is being drained out of her. Her last ounce of dignity robbed from her.
Fragments of a bride, scattered across the earth.
Gather your girls.
We’d like to start telling the different story.
Amen.
