"Corrective Rape" in South Africa

South African lesbians are currently facing the very real possibility of trying to be saved from their sexual “deviance” not through religion or social stigma, the usual tools of a homophobic society, but through rape. These cases are being called “corrective rape” and they appear to be on the rise. The Guardian reports that, Triangle, a South African gay rights organization, is seeing up to 10 new cases weekly. Zakhe Sowello who lived through one such attack spoke about her experiences, "Every day I am told that they are going to kill me, that they are going to rape me and after they rape me I'll become a girl."

Read the entire article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/eudy-simelane-corrective-rape-south-africa

At the core of any rape culture is strong expectations around gender and sexuality. Within these cultures, women are not only given the label of lesbian when they love other women. They are also called a lesbian when they play sports, don’t look feminine, want to work, or seek empowerment without men. They represent a female centered lifestyle rather than a male centered one. This threatens the social fabric of patriarchal societies. So lesbians of all kinds face the constant demands to conform. We can hear this within the way these male attackers justify their crime. There is a sort of taming of the shrew framework. Look at the words of what Zakhe was told by her attackers, “after they rape me I’ll become a girl,” thus the term corrective rape. However, this term is misleading and gives the rapists the power to define the rape. These attacks are not really meant to cure these women of their desire for other women but rather to punish them. Punish them for having the strength to live their lives outside of what’s expected. These men are using societal beliefs to excuse their violence. In order to hold these offenders accountable and show the link between this violence and culture, the first step needs to be defining these acts for what they are, homophobic rapes.

Rebekah Carrow