By Patsy Campos
A recent article brought a disturbing phenomenon to my attention known as “corrective rape.” Corrective rape is a criminal act in which a person rapes another person of the opposite sex to “cure” them of their sexual orientation. According to the article, a 13-year-old girl in South Africa became the latest victim of corrective rape and the number of cases in that country has been growing. Some reports estimate that as many as 10 lesbians a week are raped or gang raped in Cape Town alone and that about 510 women report corrective rape in South Africa each year.
It is hard to believe that this horrendous hate crime is happening in South Africa, which in 2006 became the fifth country in the world to legalize gay marriage. But despite laws that support gay and lesbian rights, LGBT activists feel that the government is not doing enough to protect its community from corrective rape. Members of the Luleki Sizwe Project, an organization that provides support for survivors of corrective rape in Cape Town, have warned of retaliation if the government does not do more to stop this crime.
Corrective rape and its gang rape brutality on women need to be stopped. There is no excuse for such violence, nor is there ever justification for any form of rape. Men, not just in South Africa but all around the world, need to stop feeling threatened by the empowerment and liberation of women and realize that the only corrective act is to practice tolerance and acceptance of everyone.