Discourses in accounts of rape by sex offenders in Limpopo province,South Africa

Uncontrollable sexual desires

To account for their sexual offences, most of the participants positioned themselves as victims, blaming their sexual crimes on their innate, incomprehensible, and uncontrollable sexual desires. These participants believed that men always needed sex and could not live without it. This discourse positioned women as sexual objects that should always be available to ‘service’ men’s sexual needs. Instead of owning up to their crimes, participants positioned themselves as victims of their biology.

. . . I also had a problem of uncontrollable desire for women. I wish I could have shared this with others, maybe they could have advised me. I had this desire from childhood. I don’t know what happened. I wanted to stop but I could not . . . (Participant 18)

Their narratives suggested that men are trapped by their biology over which they have no control. These findings are consistent with those of Everitt-Penhale’s (2013) and Campbell’s (2001) where discourses of ‘uncontrollable sexual desire’ were used to justify sexual offences. Based on these narratives, sex is constructed as a gendered activity that subordinates women and empowers men because men have uncontrollable sexual urges, while women are seen as objects that should always be available to rescue men from their unfortunate situation.

Rape is constructed as a response to temptation

Another related discourse was that of women who were positioned as encouraging rape since they wore provocative clothes that were transparent, short, and tight, which tempted men to have sex with them:

Women today attract men with their clothes. Some of their clothes are short and transparent. Then when we propose to them they refuse, forgetting that we have feelings and we are tempted. (Participant 4)

Participants blamed women for wearing ‘provocative clothes’, which some described as ‘unAfrican’ and ‘not decent’. From their responses, sex offenders attributed blame myths to the victims. They positioned themselves as victims who are powerless and lacked control over their urges. In this way, they shifted the responsibility for stopping rape onto women. They claimed that women are raped because they have not dressed ‘properly’. As a result, they did not deserve to be pitied when they are raped.

In addition to their improper dress code, women who were alone and in taverns without male companions were labelled as temptresses and socially immoral. The moral explanation to their narratives was that women are expected to be in the ‘right places’, with the ‘right people’ at the ‘right time’. In their opinion, taverns are exclusively for men. Women who happened to visit a tavern, especially without a male companion, were seen as vulnerable and available to be taken advantage of.

Men are the victims of drugs

Participants positioned themselves as victims of the effects of alcohol. Although Jewkes et al. (2012) indicated that there is little scientific literature that has demonstrated the relationship between drug use and rape, some participants mentioned that they raped because they were under the influence of alcohol. In this case, they blamed the alcohol for their actions and positioned themselves as victims:

I was arrested for rape. It was a mistake. I was under the influence of alcohol . . . I just saw myself in her house and I raped her. (Participant 2)

Participants blamed alcohol for making them commit a crime. Contrary to this myth, Jewkes et al. (2012) and Lippy and DeGue (2016) note that excessive alcohol intake does not necessarily cause one to commit a crime but rather affects one’s abstract reasoning, planning, and judgement. It is believed that these impairments can result in disinhibition, reduced empathy, and a limited capacity to consider the long-term consequences of rape or alternative behaviour, other than rape. Based on these findings, it is concluded that these participants blamed alcohol for their actions and were not keen to take full responsibility for their actions. Instead, they have positioned themselves as helpless individuals who are under the influence of alcohol:

I think it is alcohol. Alcohol makes you to be fearless and one ends up doing things that one would regret later. (Participant 2)

Men are victims of culture

Some participants raised the point that they were arrested for what they believed were culturally correct actions. These participants indicated that in an African culture, women were not allowed to ask for sexual favours from men. If a woman needed sex from a man, she was expected to indicate this by her actions. Men on the other hand were taught to ‘read’ women’s sexual advances and respond accordingly. For instance, this participant justified his offence as responding to the sexual needs of his victim:

. . . When she came back, she was wearing a transparent short silk night dress. In my culture, they say if a woman likes a man, it is difficult to tell him, instead, her actions will tell that ‘I am into you’. (Participant 16)

In his argument, the participant claimed that his actions were culturally acceptable. Since he was convicted for doing what in his opinion was culturally appropriate, he positioned himself as a victim of the Western definition of rape as opposed to that of his own culture. These findings demonstrate that cultural perceptions have a strong influence on the understanding and interpretation of sexual situations and cause some men to take, what they believe to be, culturally appropriate actions. From the narratives of some of these participants, it seems there is a contrast between what they perceive as culturally appropriate and the legal definition of rape. Hence, some of them felt that they are being oppressed and silenced by Western laws. Although this study was conducted in Africa, similar concerns were also highlighted in the study by Kalra and Bhugra (2013) where the role of cultural beliefs in certain context was seen as encouraging the objectification of women that perpetuates sexual violence. It is believed that these patriarchal contexts often legitimize sexual violence and silence the voice of women by encouraging them to be submissive and tolerant of violence, especially if it is perpetuated by their husbands, as is the case with sexual coercion within marriage. It is in these contexts that sexual coercion by the husband is normalized. In certain contexts where the voice of the woman matters, such action may be condemned and criminalized. These two contrary worlds demonstrate the disparity in cultural beliefs and serve as a constant reminder that the behaviour of individuals should also be understood in relation to cultural beliefs and context (Kalra & Bhugra, 2013).

Men as victims of external stimuli

Findings also revealed that the accessibility of pornographic movies and television programmes that contained sexually specific material were blamed. These materials were considered to be sexually provocative;

. . . they (pornographic movies) stimulate young boys prematurely. These movies arouse men, and when they see a girl, they would like to practice what they saw. (Participant 6)

Apart from television, much of these materials were accessed from peers who had stolen them from adults. It is on that basis that adults were blamed as reckless, since they did not keep erotic materials away from young men. Parents were also blamed as poor role models for exposing their children to sexual practices and their own undesirable conduct:

The other problem is that single mothers have a tendency of bringing several different men in the house. The problem is that they have sex in our presence because we would be staying in a one roomed shack. When I grew up seeing these things, what must I do? I must try to practice them. Once I touch a woman, I will think about sex, hence I will rape. (Participant 17)

Although socioeconomic status could be blamed for a lack of adult privacy, participants cited careless parents who did not protect their children sufficiently from undesirable sexual exposure. From their narratives, it is noted that even though they were convicted of rape, most participants denied any personal accountability for their crime or crimes. Their attitude is worrying. They consider themselves victims of various circumstances, and they were unlikely to change their behaviour.

Sex as a tool of vengeance

The findings revealed that in some instances, rape was used as a mechanism to hurt women who had inflicted pain on men. It is in this regard that some of the participants saw themselves as victims of ruthless women who had hurt them emotionally or physically. Rape was used as a tool to avenge the pain caused by women. From their narratives, it is clear that they perceived women as having taken advantage of men and robbed them of their money. This took place when women accepted alcoholic drinks from men and then were not willing to repay them with sex. When this form of ‘transaction’ was not honoured, men felt duped. As a result, they use rape as a form of revenge:

In taverns we buy alcohol for these ladies so that we could sleep with them. When we buy alcohol for them, they should also agree to sleep with us. Most girls are raped because they do not fulfil their promises; for instance, after drinking our alcohol, they do not want to sleep with us. That is why they are raped. (Participant 4)

As they recounted their rape of women in taverns, participants stated that women who refused to honour this form of ‘transaction’ were perceived as dikleva (clever women). Hence they were raped to end their ‘cleverness’: Re a ba reipa go ba ntšha boclever (Participant 4). Another form of vengeance was directed to women who cheated on their boyfriends. In this regard, rape is used to re-assert power. Similar results were found by Jewkes and Skweyiya (2013), who found that females were gang raped (streamlined) for undermining, betraying, and embarrassing their boyfriends. The majority of the participants cited this form of rape as a demonstration of brotherhood. Unlike other gang members, Participant 6 indicated that he participated in streamlining because he did not want his fellow gang members to see him as weak and unmanly:

. . . it was a gang-rape . . . my friend wanted to punish the lady. In my case, I was influenced by others. If I did not do it, I might have been laughed at . . . (Participant 6)

His account of his participation in the rape shows how men are policed by other men in enacting toxic masculine discourses. It is in this regard that ‘real men’ are expected to dominate women, even in the form of violence. Failure to conform renders men as non-masculine, ‘soft’, and results in them being excluded or ‘othered’. It is this kind of attitude that seems to pressurize some men to participate in violent activities so that they too can be regarded as real men. However, it was interesting to note that Participant 6 stated that he did not want to engage in gang rape. He felt pressured to do so to maintain his masculine status. There are probably other men who are trapped in the same situation. They are afraid to challenge toxic masculine discourses for fear of being ‘othered’. This finding suggests that the dominant toxic masculine discourses in a patriarchal society like South Africa are likely to play a considerable role in predisposing men to violence.

Apart from punishing promiscuous girlfriends, rape was also used by sex offenders to avenge the pain that was caused by women in their childhoods. Due to traumatic childhood experiences, some of the offenders viewed every woman as a potential rape victim. They displayed no sympathy towards women because they saw them as responsible for causing anger and hatred in men:

. . . they are planting hatred in children . . . I hated women and I started hurting them. . . . My anger was directed to women. (Participant 13)

The above narrative suggests that women are seen as cruel and so deserving of punishment. It is in this regard that women are blamed for being uncaring and irresponsible. For instance, Participant 13 blamed his mother for abandoning him when he was a child. Although his anger subsided as a teenager, it was again triggered by other women who betrayed and abandoned him later in life. Miller (2014) describes this form of sex offender as an anger-retaliatory rapist. Rape, in this regard, is used as an expression and demonstration of anger and bitterness towards women. From some of these narratives, it appears that a painful childhood and lack of love and empathy has played a role in causing some of the participants to display disordered attachment which led to their difficulty in forming empathetic relationships with women (Jewkes et al., 2012). These findings are consistent with the previous study by Smallbone and Dadds (2000) which also demonstrated how insecure childhood attachment is associated with coercive sexual behaviour. Based on these findings, it is noted that parents play a significant role in the development of their children. Therefore, to combat sexual violence, it is recommended that parents create a secure base for their children, which will enable them to be healthy adults who can have healthy relationships.