Rape and other forms of sexual violence in South Africa

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies examines the nature, extent, and reporting of sexual violence in South Africa. It highlights significant gaps in police data, the prevalence of under-reporting, and the systemic failures of the criminal justice system in securing convictions for rape.

• South African legislation recognizes 59 different sexual offences, including rape, compelled rape, sexual assault, incest, and bestiality. However, comprehensive data is lacking because many forms of sexual violence, such as sexual harassment, are treated as misconduct under labour law rather than as crimes.
• Police statistics significantly under-represent the actual incidence of sexual violence due to widespread under-reporting. A 2010 study in Gauteng found that nearly one in 12 women had been raped in 2009, yet only one in 13 women raped by a non-partner and one in 25 women raped by a partner reported the crime to the police.
• The criminal justice system in South Africa has a very low conviction rate for rape. In a study of 2,068 reported rape cases in Gauteng, only 50.5% resulted in arrests, and only 4.1% of the cases reported as rape resulted in convictions for rape.
• Rape homicide rates in South Africa are high. A 1999 study estimated that 16.3% of female homicides involved rape, resulting in a rate of 3.65 per 100,000 women over age 13, which was higher than the total female homicide rate in the United States.
• The reporting and recording of sexual offences became fragmented after the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act of 2007 (SOA). From 2008 onwards, the South African Police Service (SAPS) largely stopped providing disaggregated data by offence type, making it difficult to track specific crimes like rape.
• Societal myths and stereotypes about rape victims hinder the legal process and medical care. A survey of 31 health facilities found that 32.6% of health practitioners did not consider rape to be a serious medical condition.
• Research indicates that men who commit rape often share certain characteristics, such as holding gender-inequitable views and having experienced childhood adversity. Approximately 75% of first rapes are committed before the age of 20.

APA

Vetten, L. (2014). Rape and other forms of sexual violence in South Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief72V2.pdf

Chicago

Vetten, Lisa. Rape and other forms of sexual violence in South Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2014. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief72V2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vetten |first1=Lisa |title=Rape and other forms of sexual violence in South Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2014 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief72V2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vetten2014rape, author = {Vetten, Lisa}, title = {{Rape and other forms of sexual violence in South Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief72V2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }