On child rape in southern Africa: We must first of all must understand why the rapes are happening, and find out if they are happening in countries in the region which also have high HIV prevalence, not just in South Africa. I know that the myth of the virgin cure exists in both Botswana and Swaziland. I don't know how it is presenting itself in terms of child rape.
Some researchers suggest that the rapes have always been there, a cultural effect. Others suggest that they are the result of the behavioural sink of urban and rural poverty and despair. Others suggest mothers are involved in selling a child's virginity for money for food. Others suggest that the HIV pandemic is at the root of this tragedy. There is evidence that presentation of children who have been raped is rising in pediatric clinics at hospitals. Some suggest however that it is the reporting that is increasing, rather than the scale of child rape. There were useful articles in the Pretoria News, 6.12.01, and I assume the Johannesburg Star (go to websites) on some of these complex perceptions of where the problem is coming from. POWA has been speaking out in response to the public outrage: I assume they would be a good source of evidence and contacts. The Unicef offices in Pretoria will also provide information on the problem, if not the solution. Castration has been suggested as a solution by some very angry mothers and fathers in community organisations. Vigilante groups may resort to this 'solution'. As POWA's public statement 6.12.01 made clear however, men use their penises against women as a weapon of power. If they lose their penises, they will resort to other weapons. Simplistic responses of the castration kind are likely to be seen, but are clearly unacceptable. My immediate response therefore is to learn more about what we are dealing with here - custom, poverty, HIV, power? If we know why, we can do something about it. We are all accountable for learning as much as we can and then acting in our own spheres, and together if possible. I have not yet been able to work on this specific area, but came across the myth two years ago. I am trying to understand the complexities of the HIV pandemic in the field of education, how to deal with the trauma of children in schools, how to stabilise the education system when so many teachers are sick and dying, and how to provide learning alternatives for children forced out of school by the pandemic. It is clear from my own fieldwork that childhood trauma - related to rape, abuse, incest, homosexuality, loss of family and friends, stigma and isolation due to AIDS - is about to become a characteristic of our schools. By 2010 we will have 2 million AIDS-orphans in South Africa, out of a learner population of about 12 million. Many of these will be girl-children who are particularly at risk - at school (Medical Research Council reports 50% of all girl-children are abused as teens, and 1/3 of those are by teachers); at home (by uncles, stepfathers, and fathers); and on the streets (by sugar daddies, assertive male youth, and rapists). This is the context in which HIV thrives and spreads further. It is a cause and result of the out-of-control virus, and has contributed substantially to the evolution of the pandemic which now threatens to engulf us. There is much work to be done to understand, not just HIV the virus, but HIV the pandemic which is changing the way we live, all of us. Carol Coombe Research Associate: HIV and Education Research Programme Leader University of Pretoria Faculty of Education Phone (27) (12) 342 2857; (27) (12) 420 4733 Fax (27) (12) 342 6320 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
