issues > about the crime > race and rape Race and rapeWhile 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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