An openly-lesbian 13-year-old girl has become the latest victim of ‘corrective rape' in South Africa, as the nation's Government promises it is working to stamp out the horrific practice. The teenager was raped on Thursday in Pretoria, in an act designed to try to “fix” her sexual orientation. It came after she had declared her sexuality, local media reports. Last month, Noxolo Nogwaza, a well-known activist, was found murdered in an attack that appeared to have been motivated by her being a lesbian. She had also been raped. "Government condemns this senseless and cowardly act of criminality," spokesman Tlali Tlali has said in a statement from the department of justice and constitutional development on the attack on the 13-year-old girl. "Gay and lesbian rights are human and constitutional rights which must be protected and respected at all times." Tlali is promising a police investigation and assistance to the girl and her family. This week, government, parliamentarians and civil society groups held their first official meeting on the issue in Cape Town, which ended with the formation of a task force to better address the problem. Human Rights Watch has urged South Africa's Government to strongly condemn such attacks move toward protecting gay and lesbian people. "The vicious nature of the assault is a potent reminder that these attacks are premeditated, planned, and often committed with impunity," Human Right Watch researcher Dipika Nath said after the murder of Nogwaza. South Africa recognises gay marriage and was one of the first countries in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. However social acceptance is considered to be generally lacking, especially outside urban areas. A 2009 report by the international NGO ActionAid, backed by the South African Human Rights Commission, said the horrific crimes against lesbians were going unrecognised by the state and unpunished by the legal system. The report called for South Africa's criminal justice system to recognise the rapes as hate crimes in an attempt to force police to take action over the rising tide of violence. It came after Eudy Simelane, a former member of South Africa's national female football squad, became one of the victims of corrective rape in 2008. The equality rights campaigner, one of the first South African women to live openly as a lesbian, was gang-raped and brutally beaten before being stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 9th May 2011 - 4:15pm