Last Friday aid organisation ActionAid revealed that gangs of South African men are raping lesbians in an effort to “cure” them of their sexuality. Their report entitled ‘Hate Crimes: the rise of corrective rape in South Africa’ details how the risk of rape for lesbians was growing, especially in some towns where homosexuality is still largely taboo.

Ironically South Africa has one of the world’s most progressive constitutions. While gay marriage was legalised there in 2006, homophobia is still very much a reality.

“We get insults every day, beatings if we walk alone, you are constantly reminded that you deserve to be raped,” ActionAid quoted one lesbian as saying. “They yell, ‘if I rape you then you will go straight, you will buy skirts and start to cook because you will have learnt how to be a real woman’.”

ActionAid say that one support group is dealing with ten new cases of “corrective rape” on a weekly basis in Cape Town alone. Since 1998 31 lesbians have been reported murdered in homophobic attacks, however ActionAid expect that the number is likely to be much higher. Of those 31 cases, only two cases ended up in court and only one perpetrator was convicted.

ActionAid estimate that there are 500,000 rapes in South Africa every year and that police were not interested in pursuing crimes against lesbians.

Photo: one of the first lesbian couples to be married in South Africa.