Rape in South Africa

Essay by manchildHigh School, 10th gradeB+, April 2005

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Rape is a very serious crime, which happens far to frequently in our country, often going unnoticed. Rape is always terrible, but even worse when it is committed against children. It is essential that the coming generations know what rape is, how to deal with it if they are ever affected by it.

If the comments from the youth in the cartoon are true, South Africa will then continue to feature high up on the sexual offences list. You cannot have children thinking that incest, or rape by any one is all right. They don't seem to know what rape is, or what happens if you are raped.

From the cartoon and my own readings I have picked up on 2 troubling points which should be resolved.

The first point is that the youth are possibly not getting the correct information about rape, such as what rape exactly is and what to do if you have been raped.

A dictionary denotation of rape is: Rape is to force someone to have sexual intercourse. I feel that definition is slightly to precise, and the correct denotation should be broader, such as: rape is to force someone to perform any type of sexual relations, whether it be been forced to touch or kiss someone, to be been forced to have sexual intercourse with some one. There should generally be a better understanding of what rape is.

The second point I would like to make is that often people are too afraid to report or tell anyone that they might have been raped. Girls, boys, women and even men are afraid of what people may think or what perceptions people will have of them. For example, if a man is raped, which is an ever more occurring occurrence in all countries, how...