In just six months since it opened, the Simelela Centre for Rape Survivors in Khayelitsha has managed to significantly increase the number of people reporting rape, laying charges with police and getting treatment.

However, data released today by the centre reveals a disturbing pattern of violence in the bustling Cape Town township, which has the highest prevalence of rape in the province and one of the highest in the country.

In the first six months, 442 rape survivors sought treatment from the Simelela Centre. This is more than the total number of rapes reported in Khayelitsha for the whole of  2003/2004.

The youngest case so far was a one-year-old baby and the oldest, a 69-year-old grandmother. The vast majority of the survivors are female (93%) and the most are18 years old or younger. Over one in three cases were girls aged 14 and younger.

Most of the survivors knew their attackers (58%), and children under 14 were even more likely to be raped by someone they know (69%), according to the report. One in ten rapes were committed by a family member.

Despite the rapists in many cases being known, only a third of the rapists have been arrested with even fewer going to trial.

A large number of rapes took place in people’€™s own homes (31%). Even more took place in someone else’€™s home (39%) while proportionally few took place in open spaces (22%).

In most cases, women were raped with the threat of physical injury (68%) and in almost half of all attacks the perpetrator was armed (46%). The most common weapons used were knives (46%), followed by guns (24%). However, sticks, bricks and other implements were also used.

More than one in three rapes (37%) involved alcohol or drugs. Nearly a quarter of the rapes reported involved more than one rapist (23%) and a number of rape survivors have identified their assailants as being part of a gang (15%).

The majority of  rapists were young men. Some 67% of rapes reported at Simelela were carried out by men aged between 21 and 30.

Most survivors who sought medical treatment filed statements with the police (86%). A few of these opted to not press charges. Only nine of those who did not press charges were adults, while the rest were children.

The highest incidence of rape is in Khayelitsha Site B, were over a quarter of rapes took place.

Police statistics reveal that 55 114 people reported being raped in South Africa last year, the highest recorded yet. The Western Cape has the second highest prevalence of rape in South Africa with 149,5 out of every 100 000 people raped every year.

For years, there has been no dedicated rape centre in Khayelitsha that could deal with both emergency and follow up care. Instead, rape survivors were obliged to seek emergency treatment at the Thuthuzela centre in a neighbouring community 20km away.

The Simelela Centre provides a holistic range of services for rape survivors, including a 28-day course of antiretroviral drugs to prevent HIV transmission for those who report to the centre within 72 hours of being raped. Rape survivors are also provided with counseling and antibiotics to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

The police, the justice system and the department of health are also integrated into the Centre. This means rape survivors are able to access all the care and services under one roof, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

The report goes on to identify a number of areas in need of urgent attention, particularly poor police investigations, failure to arrest suspects, failure to protect complainants from intimidation, and a harsh court environment. These factors all put people off from seeking justice and create a climate of impunity that encourages sexual violence.

Simelela is situated at Site B Day Hospital and is run in partnership with Medecins Sans Frontieres, Rape Crisis, the departments of health, correctional services and social development, Nonceba (a family based counseling centre for child rape survivors), the police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Treatment Action Campaign.