Survey finds 1 in 3 South African men admitting to rape

London, Nov 26 (ANI): In a recent survey, more than one in three South African men admitted to rape.

The finding is the latest evidence in the country of a violent culture of patriarchy, reports the Guardian.

In the survey, more than three in four men said they had perpetrated violence against women.

Nearly nine in 10 men believe that a woman should obey her husband - and almost six in 10 women also agreed with the statement.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape in the world. Last year a survey by the Medical Research Council (MRC) found that 28pc of men in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces said they had raped a woman or girl.

A new MRC study in Gauteng, the country's wealthiest province, found that 37.4pc of men admitted having committed a rape, while 25.3pc of women said they had been raped.

The survey questioned 511 women and 487 men, of whom 90pc were black and 10pc white.

"We see a situation where the use of violence is so widespread that not only is it seen as being legitimate but I think quite often women forget it. They just see it as a normal effect," Rachel Jewkes of the MRC said.

Some 53.9pc of men and 29.8pc of women agreed that "a man should have the final say in all family matters", while 37.3pc of men and 23.2pc of women supported the view that "a woman needs her husband's permission to do paid work".

Asked about sexual entitlement in marriage, only 55pc of both men and women said they thought "it is possible for a woman to be raped by her husband".

Some 38.7pc of men and 29.3pc of women thought that "a woman cannot refuse to have sex with her husband" and 22.3pc of men and 8.8pc of women felt that "if a wife does something wrong, her husband has the right to punish her".

The survey also found that 32pc of men and women agreed that "in any rape case, one would have to question whether the victim is promiscuous", while 20.1pc of men and 15.6pc of women said that "in some rape cases, women want it to happen".

"What we see here is a set of attitudes reflecting men's views that they are legitimate in the use of violence against women, and women in many respects acquiescing to this," Jewkes said. (ANI)

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