CAPE TOWN, South Africa - One in four male South Africans surveyed admitted to committing rape, according to a research group.
The government-funded Medical Research Council, whose findings often influence official policy, said it conducted the survey to deepen understanding of men's attitudes and behavior.
The finding has cast a harsh light on a culture of sexual violence that victims groups say is deeply embedded in society.
According to police statistics, some 36,000 women were raped in 2007 â nearly 100 per day. But victim support groups and government-backed research say the vast majority of rapes go unreported because of the stigma and trauma involved. South Africa is home to about 50 million people.
'Normalized'
Chief researcher Rachel Jewkes said Friday that the findings were "shocking" but "not unexpected." Opposition political parties said they were horrified, but victim support groups said they were not surprised.
"The report indicates that rape has become 'normalized' as a feature of masculine identity in a society that has emerged from years of oppression â a tragic development for both women and for men," said Anne Marie Goetz, chief of the Governance, Peace and Security section of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
...
The survey gave no margin of error. The research council is internationally respected and regarded as reliable. It said it surveyed a representative cross-section of men of all races in the two provinces, which are representative of South Africa.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31456652/ns/world_news-africa/
The government-funded Medical Research Council, whose findings often influence official policy, said it conducted the survey to deepen understanding of men's attitudes and behavior.
The finding has cast a harsh light on a culture of sexual violence that victims groups say is deeply embedded in society.
According to police statistics, some 36,000 women were raped in 2007 â nearly 100 per day. But victim support groups and government-backed research say the vast majority of rapes go unreported because of the stigma and trauma involved. South Africa is home to about 50 million people.
'Normalized'
Chief researcher Rachel Jewkes said Friday that the findings were "shocking" but "not unexpected." Opposition political parties said they were horrified, but victim support groups said they were not surprised.
"The report indicates that rape has become 'normalized' as a feature of masculine identity in a society that has emerged from years of oppression â a tragic development for both women and for men," said Anne Marie Goetz, chief of the Governance, Peace and Security section of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
...
The survey gave no margin of error. The research council is internationally respected and regarded as reliable. It said it surveyed a representative cross-section of men of all races in the two provinces, which are representative of South Africa.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31456652/ns/world_news-africa/