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Mail & Guardian

Sexual Violence

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Lest we forget: In February 1991, Indian army forces laid siege to the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpura where, for hours, soldiers separated men from women and gang-raped women and girls aged 13 to 80. Photo: Supplied
AASIYA ANDRABI

Sexual violence and the weaponisation of the law

When we condemn Israeli apartheid but remain silent on Indian occupation, we fail to recognise that these are not separate struggles but part of a shared architecture of…

  • Zeenat Adam
8 min read
One in every five girls across sub-Saharan Africa has experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18 . Photo: File
ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY

Supporting adolescent girls advances us all this International Women’s Day

One in every five girls across sub-Saharan Africa has experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18

  • Etleva Kadilli
5 min read
G20 2025 JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT

A world without sexual violence

Survivors’ film calls on world leaders to act against child sexual abuse ahead of G20 As South Africa prepares to host the G20 Summit this month, survivors of childhood sexual…

  • Lenina Rassool
4 min read
People joined the One in Nine Campaign march in support of Khwezi – Fezekile Kuzwayo- who accused the then president, Jacob Zuma, of raping her. Photo: FIle
ANDISWA MENGO

Centre black women’s voices and expertise in sexual violence discourse

The sexual harassment case against Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge shows the pitfalls of excluding their experience

  • Nompumelelo Motlafi Francis
10 min read
(Photo: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS)
ABUSE

Editorial: A path forward at last

The reporting of sexual violence has been one of the ugliest blights of our democracy. Research throughout the years has revealed disturbing accounts of women regularly shunned…

  • Editorial
2 min read
Most rape victims are women, and that male victims are often erased from collective recognition. Photo: Rajesh Jantilal/AFP
LANGUAGE

Sexual violence in South Africa: Whose shame? Whose responsibility?

How we talk about rape should avoid ‘rape talk’ such as calling those who have been sexually abused ‘damaged good’ and perpetrators ‘monsters’

  • Louise du Toit & Charla Smith
7 min read
Smoke rises as clashes continue between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Khartoum, Sudan on May 1, 2023. (Photo by Ahmed Satti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
ABUAGLA KEIKAL

Rampage and ransom as heavyweight in Sudan’s RSF defects

A fuller picture of the Rapid Support Forces massacres in Gezira, committed under the cover of a communications blackout, is emerging from survivors and victims’ families

  • Liban Mahamed
3 min read
The Svri Opening Plenary Panel.
8TH SEXUAL VIOLENCE RESEARCH INITIATIVE FORUM

SVRI Forum 2024: From crisis to change

Survivor-leaders call for global action against GBV

  • Jamaine Krige
4 min read
Male domination: People in Durban protest against gender-based violence. (Rajesh Jantilal/AFP)
EVOLUTION

An evolutionary theory of male violence may explain the persistence of gender violence

Some scholars have argued that gender-based violence has an evolutionary root, a controversial view of a universal problem

  • Drew Forrest
11 min read
A recent conference demonstrated how eager young women in Sierra Leone were for information, and how helpful it is to receive it
AFRICA

Teaching African girls about sex

A recent conference demonstrated how eager young women in Sierra Leone were for information, and how helpful it is to receive it

  • Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
4 min read
With high rates of sexual violence in the country, it’s not surprising that bestiality exists. (Getty)
ANIMAL WELFARE

Why SA’s law recognises bestiality as akin to sexual violations against people

With high rates of sexual violence in the country, it’s not surprising that bestiality exists.

  • Sheena Swemmer
6 min read
Young women struggling with unplanned pregnancies — often victims of sexual violence and toxic masculinity — need help. (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)
ABUSE

Counting the costs of childbirth in young girls

Among other psychosocial concerns, pre-teen and teenage births contribute to poor mother and child nutrition results

  • Marcia Zali
5 min read
The acquittal of the accused in 2021 by acting Judge Tembeka Ngcukaitobi raised considerable debate about the subjective test on consent in terms of which an accused can plead that he held the genuine, if mistaken, belief that he was not acting against the will of the victim. (Photo credit should read HERMAN VERWEY/AFP via Getty Images)
ANELISA NGCAKANI

Coko vs S ruling: The case against a subjective test on consent in rape trials

Acting judge Tembeka Ngcukaitobi’s acquittal of a rape suspect has raised controversy, but legal experts say the fault lay with legislators and not the court

  • Emsie Ferreira
9 min read
Children in Africa are exposed to violence such as armed conflict, with some children recruited as child soldiers. Photo: Stefanie Glinski/AFP
AFRICAN PARTNERSHIP TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

Towards an Africa in which every child feels secure

Ending violence against children is one of the most important priorities, but it won’t happen without political leadership

  • Joan Nyanyuki
5 min read
As well as physical violence, domestic abuse can take many different shapes and forms — sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions — most of which often end up escalating to serious physical aggression, according to experts. (Oupa Nkosi)
CHILD MARRIAGE

Facts and figures: Global domestic violence numbers

“Every day, on average, 137 women are killed by a member of their own family,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, in a…

  • Sparknews
14 min read