20 April - Gender - Tag said to "fuels myths and stereotyping around rape"

In today’s show, we were joined on the line by Jennifer Thorpe – Research and Advocacy Coordinator at Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust. According to http://www.rape.co.za/, it is estimated that a woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning how to read. While a 2010 study by the Medical Research Council revealed that more than 25% of South African men admitted to having raped someone; and of those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person. These statistics are a grim reminder that rape remains one of the most prevalent gender based crimes in South Africa. Recently, a popular social networking site, featured a hash tag topic, titled “It’s not rape if...” This topic listed so-called instances and myths where rape is not regarded as a criminal act because of various circumstances. The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust has condemned the list saying it fuels myths and stereotyping around rape. For more information about Rape Crisis contact their offices on (021) 447 1467 or visit http://www.rapecrisis.org.za/ or their mobisite on rapecrisis.mobi