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What Exactly Is Rape Culture?

In the last week or so, there has been an outcry against remarks made by Judge Mabel Jansen, that have been perceived by most South Africans as racist. An indication of how big the outcry against her racism is, can be seen in how long her name has been trending on Twitter. However, underlying her remarks, is a topic one hears very little about in everyday life: rape culture. And in talking to people about rape culture, I realised that very few people knew what rape culture refers to. To correct any misunderstanding, I would like to set aside racism, and talk about rape in the following article.

Rape culture is a term that was coined in the 1970’s by American feminists, to refer to a mind-set in which rape victims are considered the to be the offending party; that it is the victims' own fault (often supported by arguments claiming that their clothing was provocative or that they “wanted it”) or that rape is normal and acceptable behaviour. In a publication by L. Vogelman, entitled Sexual Face of Violence: Rapists on Rape, rape culture is defined in the following way: “A ‘rape culture’ exists in which rape is often not acknowledged as a crime and its victims are frequently blamed and held responsible for their own violation”. The book goes on to describe how rape takes place in everyday life and states that rape is seen as a component of a “war culture” that is prominent in South Africa.

While this article is first and foremost about rape culture in South Africa, I would like to point out that it is not just an African thing. It is not limited to one culture, one race, one gender or one continent. It is something that happens all over the world and in this regard, I believe the term “rape culture” is misleading. Rape culture, as I see it, is more of a way of thinking about rape than a true culture. This set of ideas is occasionally integrated with a culture, but is not unique to any culture.

In an article by Shannon Ridgway, entitled 25 Everyday Examples of Rape Culture, one of the examples mentioned is a judge who sentenced a 50-year-old man to only thirty days in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl, where after the judge defended this decision by saying the girl is “older than her chronological age”. This example most likely refers to a case in 2014, where a teacher raped a student (the student later committed suicide) and was subsequently sentenced to only a month in jail. This sentence was, fortunately, later overruled and extended to be in accordance with the guidelines for sentencing of rapists. I would like to point out that this happened in America, in the state of Montana.

When one searches for mentions of the term “rape culture” through Google, many of the results are American or from other first world countries. Noting this, I would like to reiterate that I am fully aware of the fact that rape culture is a global phenomenon, not limited to Africa or developing countries. However, this is a South African blog, so I will be focussing on South African cases.

An example of everyday rape culture is the practice of Ukuthwala, which is the practice of abducting young girls and forcing them into marriage. This often occurs with the consent of the girl’s parents and with the aid of the community. Rapists who end up in court because of practices like this (done with or without the consent of the family), often claim that “it is my culture” as an excuse. However, on the South African Department of Justice’s webpage, it is clearly stated that culture does not excuse rape:

“Culture as a way of life for a group of people, is given a place in our Constitution. But no culture is above the law. The Constitution is clear that cultural rights are protected subject to the Constitution. Section 31 of the Constitution recognises cultural rights of communities and groups provided that such rights are not exercised in a manner inconsistent with any of the provisions of the Bill of Rights.

Ukuthwala and the cruelty it inflicts on the girl-child by denying her of her right to be a child, among other things, are further inconsistent with the African value of ubuntu.”

The Justice Department’s webpage also includes measures that the community can take to stop Ukuthwala. Notably, that brochure also points out that this old tradition allows poverty to become cyclic. That being said, such practices are no longer commonly carried out (it was first practised among the Nguni in particular), but it are practised commonly enough that our government felt obliged to dedicate a page to what the modern day effects of this tradition is. As a democracy, we frown upon this tradition and it is shunned by many communities. It still happens, though, particularly in rural areas, and cases involving Ukuthwala are examples of cases Judge Jansen would have handled.

So how do we as South Africans turn a blind eye when entire communities still view it as tradition to force young girls into marriage? And let me make this clear, forcing these girls into marriage implies forcing these girls into sexual activities that they most likely do not want to participate in – by definition, rape. In supporting these practices, a form of rape culture is cultivated in the guilty communities.

Another example of rape culture in South Africa is what is referred to as “corrective rape”. This is when people (usually women) of a homosexual orientation are raped, with the claimed intent of changing their sexual orientation. A notable example of this is the gang rape and murder of Eudy Simelane, who was a member of the South African football team and a gay rights activist.

The Medical Research Council states: “Many forms of sexual violence, particularly sexual harassment and forms of sexual coercion that do not involve physical force, are widely viewed as normal male behaviour.” According to the Nation Master statistics website, in 2010 South Africa’s annual rape rate was the highest in the world, at 1324,15 individuals per million. The second highest rate was Botswana’s at 947,02 individuals per million. According to the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) webpage, South Africa had the highest rape rate in the world in 2014 (quoted as being seven times higher than the rape rate in the USA). And, finally, according to Clements World Wide, South Africa has the highest rape rate in the world and “children are often rape victims in South Africa. This is believed to be a result of a myth that having sex with a virgin female cures a man of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases”.

It is easy to claim that the situation is not as bad as it is made out to be. That argument ignores the fact that every credible source about the rape situation in South Africa (and to a lesser extent, the world) points towards a horrifically low rate of reporting of rape and other sexual violence. The situation is dire, clearly, and ignoring it or stigmatising the discussion of it will not help. If a person cares about the rights of women, the least they can do is speak out.

To individuals who are reluctant to support those who condemn rape culture, think about your reasons. Do you feel your culture is being insulted? If so, are you really sure it is because the other person is wrong... or is it perhaps because no one in your culture is making it clear that rape is not to be tolerated? Judge Mabel Jansen made sweeping statements and statistical claims, based on her experience as a judge for many years. While there was an understandable outcry about her use of race as a categorising factor, why was the rest of the message ignored?

Do two wrongs make a right? Does racism take precedence over rape, and why should it? If we focus solely on the right to not be discriminated against, our Bill of Rights will fall. To everyone in South Africa, here is my plea: stop complaining about people pointing fingers, and either work with them to make things better or prove them wrong. The blame game will not bring us peace – let us instead work to solve our problems in defiance of our cultural differences.

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Articles about incidents of rape and rape culture, indicating how communities participate:

Article about Judge Mabel Jansen:

Sources and other links:

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