The moment Zwelinzima Vavi was accused of rape, a number of predictable but harmful myths about rape surfaced immediately, says Kathleen Dey.
Cape Town - The moment Zwelinzima Vavi was accused of rape, a number of predictable but interesting myths about rape surfaced immediately on social networks and in comments on online news reports. Irrespective of the facts, which will doubtless become clearer over time, these myths are powerful drivers of public opinion even though they are essentially false.
These myths are harmful for a number of reasons. They lead people to blame rape survivors instead of holding the rapist responsible for the rape, they make people doubt what the victim says, they make rape survivors too ashamed to speak about rape, they make us believe that some people are less or more likely to be a rapist and they make it seem that rape victims can prevent rapists from raping them if they try hard enough.
Myths take away the dignity and humanity of the survivor, causing her more trauma and pain and lowering her chances of recovery. Myths also prevent many rapists from being prosecuted. It is vital that all of us in society understand and reject these myths, so that survivors may fully recover and more rapists may be convicted.
The first myth that surfaced in the comments on Twitter is that it is easy to report or disclose rape, whether it is to the authorities or to those close to you. The truth is that there are a host of barriers to disclosing or reporting rape including fear of retaliation or intimidation by the perpetrator, the personal humiliation of being exposed as a victim of rape in a society that stigmatises rape and the fact that disclosure can exacerbate the extreme suffering that goes hand in hand with rape as a psychological trauma because you are forced to relive that trauma every time you tell the story of what happened.
Many survivors feel a strong reluctance to cause pain to loved ones and the fact that the rapist is often known to the survivor means that disclosure will negatively affect the networks of relationships surrounding both parties particularly if the victim or the victim’s family relies on the rapist financially. The fact that many survivors lack access to services both within and outside of the criminal justice system, that many lack faith in the ability of the criminal justice system to support their claim to justice and to treat them with respect for their dignity serve as barriers to reporting rape to officials. Reporting rape is in fact a very difficult thing to do.
The second myth is that it is common for women to lie about rape in order to seek revenge or to punish men. The truth is that it is possible for women to lie about rape – studies show that 2 percent do – but they are in the minority and this figure is no greater than people who lie about being the victim of other sorts of crimes. The majority of women reporting rape are telling the truth.
The third myth is that women often say “no” to sex when they really mean “yes”. This rather old fashioned notion comes from the idea in some cultures that a woman is more “womanly”, demure and respectable if she shows that she does not easily welcome sexual advances. This does not mean that a man can ignore it if a woman says “no”. The truth is that a man must always be very sure that the woman consents to sex because if she does not and he goes ahead he is committing a crime.
The fourth myth is that it is easy for women to prevent men from raping them if they try hard enough. The truth is that most men hold a superior position of power over most women by simple virtue of physical strength. But physical strength is not the only means of coercion at a rapist’s disposal. Power, influence, position, authority, money and status can all be factors. People tend to do what they are told by bosses, priests, doctors, parents and teachers even when it is something they emphatically do not want to do.
Rape is one of the most difficult crimes to prove in court, largely because there are seldom any witnesses to the crime. This means that the individual testimonies of the complainant and the accused become pivotal to the case.
Myths about rape serve to make undermining the credibility of the rape survivor as a witness in court much easier.
Companies and organisations are required by labour law to have sexual harassment policies. These policies are one thing but when you see how prevalent rape myths are then it is clear that employers need to have more than on paper policies to ensure safe spaces within the workplace.
* Kathleen Dey is the Director of the Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.
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