Why, when and how men rape: Understanding rape perpetration in South Africa
Rachel Jewkes, Yandisa Sikweyiya,Robert Morrell and Kristin Dunkle
SA Crime Quarterly No 34 Dec 2010

Article available:
http://www.iss.co.za/uploads/JewkesSikweyiyaMorrellDunkle.pdf

Abstract
This article reports the findings of research conducted with a randomly selected sample of men aged
18’€“49 years from the general population of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, who were asked in an
anonymously conducted survey about their rape perpetration practices, motivations, and consequences
thereof. Overall 27,6 per cent (466/1686) of men had forced a woman to have sex with them against her
will, whether an intimate partner, stranger or acquaintance. Some perpetrated alone, others with
accomplices. Most men who had raped had done so more than once, started as teenagers, and often had
different types of victims. Asked about motivations, men indicated that rape most commonly stemmed
from a sense of sexual entitlement, and it was often an act of bored men (alone or in groups) seeking
entertainment. Rape was often also a punishment directed against girlfriends and other women, and
alcohol was often part of the context. A third of men had experienced no consequences from their acts,
not even feelings of guilt. More commonly there was remorse and worry about consequences, and in a
third of cases there had been action against them from their family, that of the victims, or respected
community members, and about one in five had been arrested for rape. This research confirms that rape
is highly prevalent in South Africa, with only a small proportion of incidents reported to the police. Many
of the roots of the problem lie in our accentuated gender hierarchy. This highlights the importance of
interventions and policies that start in childhood and seek to change the way in which boys are socialised
into men, building ideas of gender equity and respect for women.