When her fiancée was brutally raped by men who sought to “correct” her sexual orientation, Ndumie Funda vowed to fight for justice.
Ms. Funda was devastated by the death of her fiancée and another close friend, who died of illnesses caused by the “corrective rape” that they had suffered. But when she formed a rights organization and campaigned for the prosecution of a man charged with the rape of another lesbian, she was soon in hiding, afraid to leave her home.
“He is still running around the streets, sending people to follow me,” she says. “The perpetrators follow you and threaten you. I have to keep myself safe.”
South Africa has the most liberal laws on homosexuality in Africa, including the first African law to permit gay marriage and a much-lauded constitution that bans discrimination against gays. Yet the phenomenon of “corrective rape” is a sign of the anti-gay hatred and violence that have become widespread across the continent, often with the encouragement or indifference of the authorities.
From Malawi and Senegal to Uganda and Zimbabwe, politicians are denouncing homosexuals and introducing new laws to prosecute them. A growing number of Africa’s gays and lesbians are facing the threat of prison or even death.
In South Africa, more than 30 lesbians have been killed in “corrective rape” cases since 1998, yet only one case has resulted in a conviction. By some estimates, at least 10 lesbians are raped or assaulted every week in the Cape Town area alone. In one of the most notorious cases, a gang of men raped and murdered 31-year-old Eudy Simelane, a lesbian who played on South Africa’s national women’s soccer team. She was stabbed 25 times in the face, legs and chest.
According to survivors, the attackers often shout that they are “teaching a lesson” to their lesbian victims, or showing them “how to be a real woman.” Many victims never report the attacks to the police, fearing that they will be mocked or abused.
“This is a truly obscene crime, and it most often happens to black women in poor communities,” said Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada, which is helping gay-rights groups in South Africa document the corrective-rape phenomenon.
“It’s an expression of rage and fear and homophobia. There is no country in the world that has such high levels of rape and violence against women.”
Even in schools, many young boys believe that lesbians need to be raped to “correct” their sexual orientation, according to the South African Human Rights Commission. “A culture of rape is being passed down to younger generations of South African men,” said a report by ActionAid, an international rights group. “Women are forced to conform to gender stereotypes or suffer the consequences.”
The South African courts and police have been slow to respond to the attacks on lesbians. One court case, involving the murder of 19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana by a gang of about 20 men who wanted to “correct” her sexuality, has been postponed 33 times and has dragged on for five years without a resolution.
One case has finally sparked global attention. Millicent Gaika, a 30-year-old lesbian in a township near Cape Town, was raped and beaten for five hours by a man who tried to strangle her with barbed wire. “I know you are a lesbian,” the man told her. “You are not a man. You think you are, but I am going to show you. You are a woman.”
A photo of her badly bruised face and scarred neck has galvanized action on the Internet, leading to petitions that have gathered nearly a million names around the world, calling for such cases to be prosecuted as hate crimes.
