Alarming Rape Crisis in SA

As I conducted a research on a topic to blog about today, I noticed that there was one common topic on all the websites I visited; RAPE.

"A woman in SA", according to the BBC, "has a greater chance of being raped, than learning how to read!" According to Childline, a child support group, "One in four girls faces the prospect of being raped before the age of 16". SA also has one of the highest HIV/AIDS cases and one of the highest domestic and child abuse cases in the world.

A 2009 Time.com article revealed a horrifying truth in SA. 25% of SA men admitted to having raped someone in their lifetime and 46% of this group admitted to having raped more than one person! The article stated that the research conducted by SA's Medical Research Council revealed that rape and many other types of violence against women in SA was a way the uneducated and poor men assessed their power and superiority. The article went further to state that 36,190 rape cases were reported between April and December 2007. I wonder how many went unreported and how many rapists went unpunished! The number has probably doubled between 2007 and now, 2011.

Even the President, Jacob Zuma had his fair share of  rape accusations in 2006, while he was running for Presidency to which he pleaded not guilty. Also, in 2001 it was reported that a 9 month old baby of a teenage mother was gang raped by a group of men between the ages of 24 and 66. These are just two of the millions of horrifying rape cases in SA.

Could it be that SA has one the highest HIV/AIDs victims because of the alarming high rates of rape cases? In my opinion there is a huge relationship between the two, crime and diseases. The SA government has realized that rape is a growing problem and has promised to deal with the issue, however rape cases have not received as much attention as needed to be able to curb the problem. SA is generally still a male-dominated society, therefore are focused on issues that affect males more than issues that affect females and children.

Zuma + Gaddafi = Friendship?

 Jacob Zuma, S.A's president has been criticized for failing to advising his friend, Muammar Gaddafi, president of Libya to step down. There have been rumors that last week Zuma received a phone call from Gaddafi. According to the Libyan media, Zuma sympathized with Gaddafi during the phone conversation and shared the opinion that Libya was under attack by other foreign governments. HOn the other hand, S.A government  sources say Zuma rather encouraged Gaddafi to end the violence and human rights abuse in Libya during their conversation.

Zuma, in the eyes of many, is seen as a president who is doing little to curb the racial issues among his government officials and among the S.A people. Many have expressed their dissatisfaction with the role Zuma plays in bringing peace to Ivory Coast. He has expressed opinions that the Ivory Coast elections in November was "inconclusive". Therefore, the elected leader, Alassane Ouattara should not assume the role of president.

Also, there have been reports that Zuma fled to Libya in 2006 to solicit funds after he was accused of raping a thirty-one year old HIV positive woman.The friendship between these two leaders has raised a major question;  personal relationships vs justice.

Dad holds daughter hostage

A 35 year old man was arrested last week Friday in Cape Town for holding a knife to his 2 year old daughter's throat. He police arrived at the house after they were called by a family member. The violence started after the man's family suggested sending him to a mental institution due to mental problems. In anger he seized his daughter at knife point and refused to let her go. The interesting aspect of this incident was that the police used food to convince the father to let his child go. When the police put the food on the floor the man let the child go and rushed towards the food. The police rushed in and arrested him. The child was unhurt and the father was checked into a hospital.

In SA, as well as in other African countries hostages are becoming a common form of violence. It is important for the police force to be alert at all times to be able to crack down on such offenses. In this situation the father was obviously mentally disturbed and needed help. I'm glad the police didn't use force or violence and didn't shoot at the man, but rather coerced him into letting the child go.