‘’Rape’’ a social problem that continues to occur daily and is seldom reported, the rape of a women and children is a violent and alarmingly common crime, often committed by men the victims know and trust A rapist can come from any race, social class or environment. For many years South Africa has been considered the rape capital of the world, some analysis’s tend to blame this scourge on our countries history of apartheid and violence. Over the years the precise definition of rape has varied and thus there is no single agreed definition of rape. In 2012, the FBI changed their definition from "The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will." to "The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object or by oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim."
The new South African law around rape came into effect in December 2007. This law is called the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act, No. 32 of 2007 and considers that males too can be victims of rape.
Rape is an act of Sexual Penetration of a victim, without their consent. Rape occurs when * Someone inserts their genital organs into the mouth, anus or genital organs of a victim * Any part of someone’s body, such as a finger, goes into the anus or genital organs of the victim * Any object, like a stick or a bottle is put into the anus or genital organs of the victim * The genital organs of an animal are put into the mouth of the victims

Personally I believe that one can never be entirely safe from rape because anyone has the capacity to rape which means we all are possible victims, but why one might ask . In this assignment I will be looking at the myths that create a sense of reluctance in the reporting of rape, the negativity that these myths bring about such as victim blaming, the types of rape, as well as what rape is and the laws that are in place to address it. According to South African Medical Research Council (2009), men are also subjected to sexual violence and 3.5 % of men have been forced to have sex with other men, the majority of sexual violence is against women. I may talk about rape against women a lot, this is not because I’m biased or being one sided but, according to the gathering of my content I noticed that women rape cases were more prevalent than that of men.
The updated definition of rape includes any gender of victim and perpetrator, not just women being raped by men, recognizes that rape with an object can be as traumatic as penile/vaginal rape, includes instances in which the victim is unable to give consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, and recognizes that a victim can be incapacitated and thus unable to consent because of ingestion of drugs or alcohol.
-Rape is more likely to occur among younger women under the age of 25or 30years.
- The perpetrator is more likely to be someone who is known to the victim.
- The incident is more likely to take place in the home of the victim or the perpetrator.
- A single perpetrator is likely to commit most rapes.
- Rapes occurring in public places are more likely to be committed by strangers.
- Those that are already in abusive relationships are more likely to be raped than those who are not.

- In the majority of rape cases, a weapon such as a knife is likely to be used.

- More than half of the victims across these studies reported the incident to the police.

-The victim is more likely to report a rape committed by a stranger to the police than one committed by someone who is known to her.

Rape offender profile * Tends to young * Has previous conviction for sexual related offences * Power assertive * Anger and retaliatory * Opportunistic offenders * Willingness to humiliate, abuse and degrade the victim
A myth is a false idea that many people believe to be true. Myths about rape can be very harmful to the survivors of rape; they hinder the possibility of the offence being reported to the police and the perpetrator being brought to book
Many a times the very society which wants to do away with rape consists of citizens who believe that male-on-female rape is a direct cause of a woman’s attitude or behaviour, the way a woman dresses , flirts and at times the places she goes to and her consumption of alcohol. Some go as far as saying the victim ‘wanted it’, which in my perspective is a complete and utter lie, no man woman or child ever sits around and thinks of how and when they want to be raped and by whom. rape is seen as a form of enforcement of power with the perpetrator in control and rape as the tool.
Seen through the eyes of patriarchy rape depicts a picture where power is reserved to men where women are meant for sex and are objectified, that women want forced sex and to be pushed, be submissive and ask no questions and that male sexual impulses and behaviours are uncontrollable and must be satisfied whenever they see fit regardless of whether there is or isn’t a presence of consent.
These supposed beliefs are also referred to as victim blaming and form part of the reasons why many survivors find it hard to stand up and report any sexual offence they have encountered they have a fear of being judged and criticised by either their community, colleagues’, friends or family and this as a result delays the survivors healing, as much as one can never heal but these myths make the survivors feel guilty and ashamed of themselves and never fully come to terms with the incident.
Gay/ lesbian Corrective rape
Corrective rape is believed to convert them to heterosexuality. Males who are gay are believed to face double victimisation as the first was the actual sexual offence without their consent, the second in some cases occurs when they report their case to the police. Some policemen/women are still not accepting of gays and lesbians and as a result don’t take in these cases as serious crimes. Marital Rape
Also referred to as spousal rape, wife rape, husband rape, partner rape or intimate partner sexual assault occurs between married couples, with the perpetrator as the victims’ spouse. And like any other form of rape it is also non-consensual regardless of marriage. Research reveals that the victims of marital rape suffer longer lasting trauma than victims of stranger rape. The legislation of the prevention of Family Violence Act 133 Of 1993 saw marital rape declared a crime in South Africa.(klopper2008:6) Rape of children/ Infant rape
The rape of a child is considered as a form of child sexual abuse. South Africa has some of the highest incidences of child and infant rape in the world,
- In October 2001, a 9-month-old girl named Tshepang was raped by an HIV-positive man and had to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery in Cape Town, (The Guardian).
- In February 2002, an 8-month-old infant was reportedly gang raped by four men. One has been charged. The infant has required extensive reconstructive surgery.
Child on child sexual abuse occurs when the rape is committed by another child who is usually older or stronger than the other. Sexual offences against children are also commonly prevalent in the form of incest in our country. Incest is where the perpetrator is the parent, or other close relatives to the child like the grandparents, uncles or aunts.
Many of such rape cases are believed to be under reported because of parents reluctance to bring the perpetrator to prosecution as they are usually the breadwinner of the family and should they be arrested the family would suffer. Families should be taught that keeping a sexual assault allows the perpetrator to further pursue their criminal activity. In this case shelters should come into play, houses of safety rather. By letting families know that they can go to a place of safety instead of suffering due to the fear of financial security, reporting could increase. Date rape
The term date rape is a non-domestic rape committed by someone who knows the victim it is often referred to as ‘acquaintance rape’ or ‘hidden rape’. Date rape is a sexual offence between people who are in some form of lf social relationship. Dating rape occurs, when the suspect lures the victim under false pretences and waits for any opportunity to have sexual intercourse with the victim. Social networks play a big role in this type of rape cases a known and convicted offender Thabo Bester is an example he lured women with the use of Facebook committed 30crimes including murders. To a large extent these social networks are being wrongfully used by perpetrators to exercise their criminal careers. They create false profiles and pose as young men who are friendly, outgoing and relatable. Elderly Rape
Along with child/infant rape elderly rape has become increasingly alarming.There are three types of elder abuses namely; -Domestic elder abuse: any of several forms of maltreatment of an older person by someone who has a special relationship with the victim.
-Institutional elder abuse: any form of abuse that arises in /occurs in residential homes for the elderly, such as nursing homes, foster homes, and board and care homes.
-Self neglect or self abuse: the abuse of physical force to inflict pain, beating, hitting, kicking, pinching burning, force feeding physical restraints.

As a society we are still scared of talking about sexual injustices and sexual orientation, this hinders rape survivors to take action timeously and get the help they need because they feel ashamed or guilty and are blaming themselves. It is said that rape survivors react differently to sexual assault, some become overly depressed while others become very angry. As family/friends or their first turn for comfort, we should listen to them without passing judgement because rape is not anyone’s fault.
- We should encourage them without putting pressure on them to seek medical attention and to report the crime in order to increase the chance of the offender being apprehended.
-We should not frighten or criticise them, their privacy should be respected in the process and as their support our limits should be known. They need to be encouraged to find a support group and actually accompany them to show them that they are not alone.
I believe to curb rape harsher sentences’ should be implemented, a person who violates another in this way in my perspective should lose their rights, but then again we are not God and therefore cannot take lives. Harsher sentences become exemplary to other opportunistic offenders and this could desensitise the need or urge for perpetrators’ to rape.
-on a smaller scale equality education should start in schools teaching the future of the world, our children that no gender is superior than the other that we should respect one another and accept each other’s sexual orientation. The meaning of No should be instilled in our young ones.
-Media should also take a role by publishing fair and just stories, some stories, movies and songs out there depict women in a cheap manner, and this teaches people the wrong things even though this is not the intention. More campaigns about sexual orientation, rape and assault should be aired.
-As a society in our respective communities community projects and active supports should be created, and people educated.
As much as we can never have a full proof plan on how to prevent rape, society should know what to do next should they be in such a situation or know of someone in that situation. Preach the word of safety in numbers, not dressing in open areas or near open windows at home not walking or playing around deserted arrears, keeping a look out for sinister characters and taking.
Centres such as the Thuthuzela care centres should be increased, sadly as I was doing a bit of research on them I noticed that there isn’t one in Richards Bay where I reside, and others in Stanger were not operating. More units of care should be created and such cases should be treated with the utmost sensitivity should a survivor be at a position of reporting to the police, stereotypes and discrimination within and amongst our police about rape should be done away with. They are there to serve citizens not traumatise or make them feel ashamed.

Most obstacles encountered by investigators when investigating rape is namely:
-physical evidence and preservation of it, sometimes there is no physical evidence because the crime is reported after 72hours the commission of the assault and most people do not know about this time frame.
-Whether the victim consented or was forced – this becomes a very big problem when the survivor is disabled or is a child, as they cannot tell the exact details of the crime committed towards them. This hinders the case and it takes even longer as psychologists and psychiatrists have to be involved. These specialists have to use different things like drawings and toys to gather the truth.
-whether full intercourse took place
-Forensic evidence or pending medical investigation – Solving and preventing crime through proactive and timeous forensic analysis has become a major focus of police agencies around the world. In South Africa, significant effort has been directed towards improving the forensic and criminal records capacity (Green paper for policing 2013;34). this tends to be an even bigger problem because our country has yet advanced like the 1st world countries, whom have faster ways of finding out DNA, in our country it takes up to a year and in that waiting period the offender is at large committing more crimes. Attorney RS Madzivhandila says he has dealt with a number of cases in which the guilty go free.Suspects sometimes go on trial before the forensic report is even available – and they are often convicted because they are timid and don’t answer questions properly and the innocent go to jail because of SAPS forensics, says Madzivhandila.
-The new DNA Bill, which proposes the introduction of the database and is under parliamentary review, addresses the concerns of critics by ensuring that it adheres to the Constitution. The Bill allows for the collection of DNA profiles from volunteers and crime scene evidence. It will also allow DNA profiling of all accused and convicted persons, and allow those profiles to be retained even if the accused are found not guilty or if the prosecution is discontinued.
-Special investigative techniques, skills and knowledge are required for dealing with certain types of crime, for example crimes against women and children. To deal with obstacles encountered during rape cases the training of detectives should be vital and at the core. Training forms an integral part in developing the right type of police officer, and in contributing to the broader transformation goals of the police. It must be based on modern techniques and principles of policing, and be a deliberate approach to improving the quality of the police (Green paper for policing 2013; 43).
-The introduction of new technology must be appropriate, needs driven, cost effective, sustainable and implementable .Quality detectives are needed, and they also need to be managed, the necessary resources must be fully provided to deal with cases of sexual assault in order for justice to prevail(Green Paper on policing 2013;52)
From my understanding the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Units where formed to deal with cases of sexual offences as it has been closed its reopening hopefully is informed by the understanding that a dedicated law enforcement approach is needed – one that will focus on the victim while also ensuring that the perpetrator(s) are prosecuted. There are still many milestones that we have to overcome as a society in order to help rape survivors. The elimination of myths, and blaming would in turn increase the cases reported. Rape can be fought even though not eliminated, our justice system and service providers need to also play their role, more training of investigators people who work for the love of the profession and not the paycheque and creation of specialist forensic units, more educative campaigns from government and media, to create awareness. Sexual assault can never be curbed but the elimination of secondary victimisation could go a long way. Investigators can do their jobs well should they have the necessary training, standard resources and understanding of the people reporting case.