According o a report by BBC news, “a female born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped in her lifetime than learning how to read”. The number of child rapes in South Africa is so embarrassing that the government has placed a moratorium on government crime statistics, stating that they needed reassessment. There are many reasons contributing to this issue.

One is the belief in the “virgin myth”; that sex with a child or baby will cure AIDS. Virginity testing is growing and often occurs in schools, where the girls must lie on their back with their pants and underwear off and legs in the air. Poverty and lack of access to AIDS drugs is another reason for these atrocities. The median income for Blacks and mixed race in South Africa can be as low as $300 a year, and the cost for AIDS drugs average $40 to $50 per month. Desperate people seek desperate measures.

As a woman, a mother and a human being I am beyond disturbed. While our children are worried about cliques and fitting in at school, those in South Africa are concerned about personal safety and whether their teacher, classmate, uncle, neighbor or stranger on the street will rape them.

How can a country with so many natural resources watch their people become so desperate?

How can we as a nation with so much luxury look the other way?

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Posted under Post-rape care