The claim that South Africa is the "rape capital of the world" has become a common narrative, often cited in global discussions about sexual violence. Recently, I read a Reddit post on the /southafrica sub, the post was a positive one by a South African who “apologised” for taking South Africa for granted.
The user said “while this may be the rape capital and things here sometimes suck, no matter where I go, I know South Africa is my home and there's no other place where I belong.”
That struck a cord with me. Is South Africa really the “rape capital of the world”? While it is undeniable that gender-based violence is a grave and pervasive issue in the country, I think the accuracy of this label requires closer examination of both national crime statistics and global data.
The South African Police Service's (SAPS) Annual Crime Report for 2022-2023 found that South Africa’s rape cases saw a slight increase with 42,780 rapes reported - up by 2.5% from the previous year. This equates to 70.59 cases per 100,000 people or just under 5 an hour.
As grim as these numbers are, we’re not doing too bad in a global context. South Africa's laws protect women through the Constitution, which guarantees equality and prohibits gender-based discrimination.
The government has also introduced new laws, including the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill, to protect women and children from abuse and violence.
We’ve adopted and incorporated international legal instruments aimed at protecting women's rights over and above being protected by the full range of rights guaranteed in the new Constitution.
According to the 2023/2024 annual Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index, Denmark is the best country to be a woman while Afghanistan ranked at the bottom. The index is based on data that measures women’s inclusion, justice access, and security in 177 countries. South Africa ranked at 91 with a score of 0.688, beating 86 other countries.
In South Africa, despite a long-term decline from a decade ago, rape still accounted for a 80% of all sexual offences during the period under review. The report, based on Section 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007, acknowledges that both men and women can be perpetrators or victims of rape.
It further notes that rape is defined to include same-gender offences, broadening the scope of understanding the crime. Despite this broad definition, SAPS data only reflects reported cases, meaning the true scale of the issue could be far worse due to underreporting, which is rife, especially in countries where women have very few, if any, constitutional rights.
The World Population Review, which tracks rape statistics globally, highlights this difficulty. It is widely accepted that rape is underreported in many countries, including South Africa, for various reasons.
Victims often face social stigma, fear of reprisal, or a lack of confidence in the legal system, all of which can prevent them from coming forward. Globally, it is estimated that only 40% of women who experience sexual harassment seek any form of help, and fewer than 10% actively engage with law enforcement.
This figure likely holds true in South Africa, where survivors of rape and other sexual offences frequently cite victim-blaming and a lack of justice as reasons for their silence. This issue of underreporting complicates any claim that South Africa’s rape figures alone can earn it the title of "rape capital of the world."
It is important to recognise the significant disparities in how rape is defined and recorded across the globe. In some countries, rape includes any form of non-consensual sex, while in others, it is only classified as rape if it involves extreme violence or passes certain legal thresholds.
In addition, certain jurisdictions include statutory rape or marital rape in their figures, while others exclude them entirely. This inconsistency is evident when comparing South Africa to countries like Sweden and the United Kingdom, where broader legal definitions of rape may inflate the number of cases reported.
Meanwhile, in countries with weaker legal frameworks or social taboos around sexual violence, rape may be underreported on an even larger scale than in South Africa.
The global context makes it clear that labelling any country as the "rape capital of the world" is problematic. The very definition of rape varies widely, as do cultural and legal frameworks that either encourage or discourage victims from reporting the crime.
International statistics on rape often also fail to capture the nuanced experiences of sexual violence victims. While South Africa faces a severe crisis of gender-based violence and sexual offences, the label of "rape capital" does little to address the underlying systemic issues.
It is crucial to examine the broader systemic issues that have contributed to South Africa’s rape epidemic. Patriarchy, poverty, and a pervasive culture of violence play significant roles in perpetuating sexual violence.
While increased reporting and police intervention are necessary steps, they are not enough to address the root causes.
IOL