Male Rape in Africa’s Conflict States

Photo credit: Jehad Nga, The New York Times

This post is by Alfred Mautsane Thutloa.

Rape is one of the most common crimes perpetrated worldwide. The hypothesis that the act of rape is about power — usually the domination of men over women — is widely accepted. The rape of women by men is a widely understood reality, yet the phenomenon of male rape is generally observed with indifference.

“Sexual assault of men remains infrequently reported and poorly understood.” says Professor Banwari Meel of Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science. Professor Meel goes on to state that victims (both female and male) are usually ashamed and frightened after they have been sexually violated. The situation is even worse when male victims are raped during political conflict. They merely become the silent casualties of war, as seen in Zimbabwe and Congo where men are systematically raped by other men.

In an article titled “Male rape, the latest weapon for Mugabe’s men” by Geoff Hill it is mentioned that out of the 52 male victims the author interviewed, 38 of them claimed to have been raped “or forced to engage in anal sex with other victims.”

Hill further explains that this was part of a nationwide campaign by Mugabe to crush the opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change.  Hill tells the story of one of the male rape victims in the following words:

Late that night, one CIO officer returned with two men from the youth militia, who are loyal to Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. They removed all my clothing, then one of the militia put on a condom and raped me . . . I was crying and there was a lot of blood. Then the second militia did the same thing . . . When it was over, they put me in handcuffs and chains and left me without my clothes.

In a New York Times article by Jeffrey Gettleman, “Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims,” published in August 2009, he says that sexual violence against men is another means for armed force to mortify and demoralize Congolese communities into submission.

Gettleman also comments that Oxfam, United Nations officials, Human Rights Watch, and a number of Congolese aid organizations attribute the rise in male rape to joint Congo-Rwanda military operations and rebels who chose to target male civilians.

Sexual crimes of men against other men  deserve attention to break through the stigma attached to this type of sexual victimization. In South Africa, the common law offense of indecent sexual assault was repealed in 2007 and replaced with the Sexual Offenses Act. This new Act has a wider definition of sexual assault, which includes forced anal and oral sex regardless of the gender of the victim or the perpetrator. This is a step in the right direction.

The rape of women during civil war is one of the most notable gross violations of human rights in Africa. Male on male rape is another growing concern and should be addressed to help survivors come forward and share their stories.

Alfred Mautsane Thutloa is freelance writer focusing on online writing. He recently completed a masters thesis for a degree in Intercultural Communication.

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