'Change laws on male rape'

2004-10-13 22:24

Cape Town - Correctional services employees called on government on Wednesday not to discriminate against men when it comes to rape.

According to Friends Against Abuse (FAA) - an organisation started three years ago by warders at Cape Town's Pollsmoor prison - when "raped men" lay a charge at a police station it is called indecent assault, not rape.

"Currently, the situation is that male rape is not recognised," FAA member Eddie Johnson, told members of parliament's correctional services portfolio committee.

"When we say equitable legislation, we say regardless of the gender of the person, if he has been raped he has been raped, and the legislation must recognise that."

Penalties lighter

The FAA consists of members of staff and inmates who seek to help men who have been raped in prison, or en route to prison.

Johnson said penalties for persons found guilty of indecent assault were much lighter compared to those found guilty of raping women.

"We must remove the part that says it is rape when it is a woman and indecent assault when it is a man," he said, adding that he did not differentiate between adults and juveniles, as the situation was the same.

Johnson said sodomy "is the voluntary sexual intercourse between two men", but rape is defined "as a male having unlawful and intentional sexual intercourse with a female without her consent".

Rape also took place at police stations and at law courts, "sometimes with the knowledge and complicity of the police officers".

"It is 99.9% guaranteed that you would be violated or abused in one way or another when you are en route to prison, and overcrowding does not help the situation," he said.

When asked by committee chair Dennis Bloem whether the problem extended to all 241 prisons around South Africa, Johnson said: "I'm convinced that it's like that."

Raping part of initiation

Lizelle Albertse, another FAA member, said raping men was part of the initiation of the "28's" gang.

At the end of the committee meeting, Bloem said "this type of thing" could not be allowed to happen.

"We are fully aware that prison rape or sodomy is not a new thing. It is as old as prison itself, but we can't say it's there and we are leaving it like that. We must address it."

After the meeting, Khanyisile Mpuang, national programme specialist on offender reintegration at the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro), told Sapa: "we are sitting on a timebomb if we don't do something" about the problem.

"You heard that there are 241 prisons nationally, I can bet my last cent, it is possible that in each of them you will find the same situation as at Pollsmoor," Mpuang said.

- SAPA