No place for homophobia here

photo courtesy: Moeletsi Mabe

Repost from The Star (South Africa)

by By Navi Pillay

South Africa has given the world some powerful ideas – foremost among them the concept of the rainbow nation, where diversity is a source of strength and everyone is entitled to equal rights and respect.

It is especially saddening that the country reborn under Nelson Mandela’s watchful eye should now be the setting for a far more sinister phenomenon that undermines everything the rainbow nation stands for: so-called corrective rape.

The disturbing term “corrective rape” describes the rape of lesbians or women perceived to be lesbian by men who claim to be trying to “correct” their victims’ sexuality. In the worst cases, such attacks have been fatal.

Rape and comparable sexual violence against anyone is a serious crime that must never be condoned nor tolerated.

This kind of rape is part of a wider pattern of sexual violence that tragically affects women across South Africa and elsewhere. Continue reading at The Star