rape

The motivations for rape are complex. Rape is associated with a close linkage between the concepts of sex and power. In South America, women are commonly viewed as being inferior to man, as possessions and as needing to be led an and controlled. Sexual violence against women and girls has been described as a weapon with which fractions terrorize the civilian populations during conflicts. These motivations do not satisfactorily account for the emergence of infant rape.

According to South African police services, 1,263 rapes occurred in 1979, and 223,374 rapes were reported in the first 6 months of 1998. However, rape is an unreported crime and police estimate that only 1 in 35 case is reported. Based on this estimate, 584,350 rapes would have occurred in the first half of last year, a rate of 3,228 a day. 1 out of every 3 women will be raped in their lifetime.

In South America the police record states that there were 221,072 se...