Sexual violence in South Africa

Sue Blaine:

Research shows violence at schools is worsening.

“There are no proper studies, so this is a perception, but from recent research that I have done it is getting worse,” says Dr Richard Griggs, who has been studying violence and crime in South African schools for almost a decade.

Poverty has a role to play, but the root cause of all violence in SA is the almost universal and deep-seated South African belief in stereotyping, he says.

According to research published last year by the British Medical Journal, misconceptions about sexual violence is rife among South African school pupils. Researchers interviewed 269705 pupils aged 10 to 19 at 1418 schools.

“Males (pupils) were more likely than females to have misconceptions about sexual violence. The younger respondents (10-14 years old) were more likely ... to believe sexual violence does not include touching, that if you know someone, forcing sex is not sexual violence; and girls have no right to refuse sex with their boyfriend,” the researchers said.

About 71% of the girls interviewed, and 66% of the boys, said they had been forced to have sex.

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