Myths & stereotypes
Charlene Smith

issues > about the crime > race and rape

Race and rape

    While journalist and rape survivor Charlene Smith believes there are many things in religion and culture that create a situation where sexual entitlement is the norm, she believes this happens across all races.

    "Regardless of what colour you are, regardless of whether or not you’re white or black, there’s a situation in this country where a man thinks if he sees something he can take it. One of the highest incidence of rape as an example among teenagers and young people is something called 'jack rolling', where a young man will ask a woman out and if she declines him he will then punish her and not just him, but he’ll go and get his friends and they’ll gang-rape her to teach her a lesson. It’s very, very, very common.

    "The negative attitudes that men have are not restricted to black men having problematic attitudes towards women. White men also have problematic attitudes.

    "Just a small percentage [of South Africans] are white (about 10 percent), and the rape graphs follow that almost completely, so most women getting raped are black women getting raped by black men. However you get white men who rape and you get white women who are raped. It isn’t a racial issue at all; it’s a societal issue of disrespect toward women and children."


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