Sexual violence in South Africa
The rate of sexual violence in South Africa is among the highest in the world. According to a government report, a woman is murdered every three hours in South Africa. Many of the female victims are brutally assaulted and raped before being murdered. In many cases, their bodies are disposed of in the bush or in shallow graves, or burned beyond recognition. The rapes and murders have led to street protests, the #AmINext campaign and an online petition signed by more than 500,000 to demand the reinstatement of the death penalty in a nation battling to curb high levels of crime. South Africa's President has promised a series of measures to tackle the crisis - including making public a register of offenders, increasing the number of "dedicated sexual offences courts", and harsher sentences.
South Africa reportedly has one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world. According to a survey, Seventy-seven percent of women describe sexual violence as "very common" in their areas. Sixty-eight percent of women said they had been subjected to some form of sexual harassment at work or school at some point in their lives. One in four young men questioned reported having had sex with a woman without her consent by the time he had reached eighteen. According to the South African police, rape continues to be one of the most under-reported crimes, and therefore unpunished. Rape ranks last on the list of South African crimes in terms of conviction rates. A considerable percentage of cases are withdrawn before they reach court or during court proceedings. There is a significant backlog of cases in the justice system with some rape cases taking as long as two years to be finalized. The prevalence of rape and violence against women in South Africa remains highly contested.
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