Lesbian activists in South Africa were protesting this week against a crime that is becoming increasingly common in the country – “corrective” rape.

Earlier in the week, members of Luleki Sizwe (‘guide a nation’), a refuge for corrective rape survivors, met with government representatives to urgently address the violent act, committed by homophobic men to ‘cure’ lesbians. They are urging the government to set up a commission to look into hate crimes and crimes of sexual violence against lesbians and gays in South Africa. As the meeting took place, around 200 people protested outside parliament in support of the organisation.

Although South Africa has some of the world’s most progressive laws relating to LGBT matters and same-sex marriage is legal, there have been several cases of horrific sex crimes against lesbians. In 2008, Eudy Simelane, from the South African women’s football team, was gang-raped and stabbed. Activists estimate that there are 10 corrective rapes a week in Cape Town alone, and Marlow Valentine of the LGBT campaign group Triangle Project said that the crime is under-reported.

Ndumie Funda, Luleki Sizwe’s founder told the Sowetan Live website that “the ministry now knows that they can no longer ignore our long fight against corrective rape. The ball is in their court.”

Comments are closed.