Why am I only seeing this story in the Daily Mail and other tabloids? *trigger warning mentions rape*

[justanotherneighinparadise]

I’ve just tried to find this story in some left wing papers to appease Mumsnet hatred of the Daily Mail and I can only see it in a few tabloids and papers. It’s absolutely horrific. I’m had no idea violence against women was so bad in South Africa!!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8473735/amp/Grandmother-71-dies-shock-forced-watch-three-granddaughters-raped.html

[MondayYogurt]

Hire cars in South Africa have emergency rape phone numbers in the glovebox. It's a country of two halves still.

[happydappy2]

How depraved and mentally ill that man must be-horrific. The rape statistics for SA are very very bad, I don't really feel comfortable going there at all anymore.

[HoneysuckIejasmine]

SA in general is not good for women. Rape and murder are prevalent.

A friend emigrated there in the 00s. All five of her children (late teens to early 20s) were held at gunpoint at various times - robberies in the street, home invasion, restaurant robberies. She said after a certain time of night you just ignore traffic lights because it's dangerous to sit at a red light - instead just treat like a junction and go as soon as it's clear.

They moved back to the UK in the late 00s.

[stumbledin]

I think there is quite a lot of coverage of the level of violence against women in South Africa, including "corrrective rape" of lesbians.

But they are usually press releases about yet another report, rather than focusing on individual acts of violence.


Police murder statistics show that a woman is killed every three hours. Official statistics on sexual assault may not show the full scope of the problem, researchers say, because many victims don’t report the incident to police.

Given Sigauqwe, who works with non-profit organization Sonke Gender Justice, says patriarchy — the belief that men rule in the family and society — is the main culprit.

www.voanews.com/africa/south-africa-struggles-second-pandemic-violence-against-girls-women

[RufustheRowlingReindeer]

Just horrific, that poor family

And im sorry you had to waste your time looking for the ‘right’ link

[stumbledin]

Rape map and murdered women - welcome to South Africa's Republic of Sexual Abuse
www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=cf1f1afe-31ee-4fba-953a-0dc7c76a7746

[PerkingFaintly]

Yep, Guardian's been covering it for years, not just when there is what the tabloids would horribly deem a "good headline".

Your thread title is an "OhEmGee it's all a cover-up" jobby, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are actually posting to talk about rape in South Africa, rather than merely to blame papers you haven't bothered reading (or this wouldn't be coming as shock to you).

In which case you'll probably find these informative and also horrifying.


www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/dec/06/south-africa-rape-crisis-nanny-realised-something-wrong-forensic-nurses
Up to a quarter of women in South Africa are raped. Most survivors never report the crime, yet those who seek support may fall under the care of people like Teddy Ceba and Mabel Qhathatsi, forensic nurses who provide health and criminal justice services in Free State province.

www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/south-africa-rape-nightmare-crime-stats
Most South Africans learn about rape, or the threat of rape, when they are very young – even if they are yet to have the words for it. Sexual abuse has become normalised.

[mariwhee]

Oh my goodness, that report is going to stay with me. Im actually speechless

[Bridehorror]

@happydappy2 don't you DARE blame mental illness.

[PerkingFaintly]

And yes, "corrective" rape of lesbians is a major thing. It's all quite horrific.

The thing is, Oscar Pretorius murdering Reeva Steenkamp (the one previous high profile case you may have heard of) isn't that anomalous. He's within a culture where violence against women and children is normalised.

[justanotherneighinparadise]

I knew India had a shocking rape culture but no I didn’t realise that South Africa was also horrific in its treatment of women. I definitely need to read a much wider variety of publications for sure.

My search for a link was merely because I knew I’d get a load of shit for pasting a Daily Mail link but yes i did privately wonder if the left wing press wasn’t publishing the story for another reason 🤔

[FunnyInjury]

I think its quite telling in the Guardian report that donations are often tied to AIDS prevention too.
It smacks of protecting the next rapist to come along a bit to me rather than centering the victims and what they need. Of course AIDS prevention is part of it but ffs.

[PerkingFaintly]

It's a country of two halves still.

There is no half where there isn't sexual violence.

Think about what happens to male entitlement when you feed it through a process like apartheid, which tells one section of the population they are the master race.

It doesn't get less, I'll tell you that for free.

[MondayYogurt]

I have family there. Plenty of wealthy people still live in gated communities guarded by dogs, electric fencing, and patrolled by men with AK47s. If you're suggesting those women are at the same risk of brutal rape as those in townships you're on some kind of #AllLives trip.

Saying it happens to every strata ignores the fundamental power disparity between people with money and people without it.

The unemployment rate was (pre-corvid) near 27%.

The DM is one of the very few UK news sites to cover some stories. There are probably too many to pick from.

TW: child abuse

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7204029/amp/South-African-girl-11-hysterectomy-three-year-rape-ordeal-paedophile-neighbour.html

[PerkingFaintly]

Not quite sure what you're suggesting I'm suggesting, MondayYogurt? South African society has so many ways to slice it, I still can't tell which you were referring to.

It's certainly the case that there will be more protection from some types of stranger rape in gated compounds.

Scarily, what you're seeing in these articles may represent an improvement in the official treatment of women. Prof Gqola has put it rather more rigorously, but that article matches my personal observation.

When officialdom was a white fiefdom (before 1994) it was very much:
–white man rapes white woman: don't talk about it, wouldn't want to let the side down;
– black man rapes white woman: OMG THEY'RE ALL MONSTERS GET THE PITCHFORKS JUST GOES TO SHOW;
– black man rapes black woman: meh, not "our" problem;
– white man rapes black woman: this isn't a thing, how could it be rape?

So if you were a black woman you were bottom of every heap (plus ça change).

The set-up didn't really work for any women, though. That society was fundamentally unable to even approach dealing with violence against women, because this was always trumped by the need to maintain the white supremacy.

[happydappy2]

bridehorror do you really think a man in his right mind would do this? Its extraordinarily cruel and violent-I'm not excusing his behaviour in any way but I don't see why mentioning mental illness is off the cards. Please can you elaborate on yr comment? Thanks

[RufustheRowlingReindeer]

do you really think a man in his right mind would do this

Some would