-19062009

According to a study into rape and HIV by South Africa's Medical Research Council (MRC) a quater of men in South Africa have raped at least one man or woman.
The study includes a representative sample of 1738 men in South Africa's Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. To ensure anonymity the men were asked to tap their answers into a Palm Pilot device.
The results are more than shocking:

about one out of four men said they had raped a woman/girl/man/boy before
- 28% said they had raped a woman or girl
- 3% said they had raped a man or boy
- 73% stated that they carried out their first assault before the age of 20
- Nearly 50% said they had raped more than once
- 10% said they had been forced to have sex with another man

The results regarding the interrelationship between HIV and rape are no better:

- Men who are physically violent were shown to be twice as likely to be HIV-positive

- Any woman raped by a man over the age of 25 has a 25% chance of her attacker being HIV-positive

Even though the results of the study are newly published, the problem has been known for a long time. Nonetheless, the government has done little to improve the situation.

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/one-out-four-south-african-men-admit-rape