ajamiere:

fyeahafrica:

A 13-year-old lesbian has become the latest victim of “corrective rape” in South Africa, prompting activists to call for direct retaliatory action.

The girl, who is said to be open about her sexuality, was raped in Pretoria last Thursday, a government spokesman said.

Campaigners say so-called corrective rape, in which men rape lesbians to “cure” them of their sexual orientation, is on the increase in South Africa. Thirty-one lesbians have been killed because of their sexuality in the past decade, campaigners say, and more than 10 lesbians a week are raped or gang raped in Cape Town alone.

Last month, a 24-year-old woman who belonged to a gay and lesbian rights group was stoned to death after an apparent gang rape.

Officials said the 13-year-old victim’s case is being investigated by police and she and her family are receiving support. Tlali Tlali, a government spokesman, said it seemed to be another incident of corrective rape, adding: “Government condemns this senseless and cowardly act of criminality.”

Tlali said every South African had the right to express themselves in the sexual orientation of their choice. “Gay and lesbian rights are human and constitutional rights which must be protected and respected at all times.”

Ndumie Funda, founder of the Luleki Sizwe Project, a charity that supports survivors of corrective rape in Cape Town, said she had heard reports of a transgender person being raped over the weekend. “It is getting worse and needs to come to an end,” she said. “People are not being given a platform to come out of the closet. What about those who are locked in a cage and cannot come out? It’s not fair and it’s about time we talk.”

Funda, 37, became involved in the campaign when she met Nosizwe Nomsa Bizana, who had been raped at gunpoint by five men and infected with HIV. The couple became engaged but Bizana died in 2007. Funda is forced to take a different route home every day to avoid being targeted because of her public activism.

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This is Malicious and Should NEVER happen.