Thesis(M Med.(Family Medicine))--University of Limpopo, 2009. / Aim: The aim of this research was to explore the experiences of female rape survivors seen at Bopanang Centre in Upington, Northern Cape Province. The objectives of the study were: 1 To describe the experiences of female rape survivors who received health care at Bopanang Centre Upington, Northern Cape. 2 To enable caregivers understand the experiences of women who survived rape. Design: The design was a descriptive exploratory qualitative study using in depth interviews on females who survived rape. The interviews were conducted in both English and Afrikaans and recorded on audio tapes while field notes and a research diary were documented by the researcher. Setting: The setting was Bopanang Centre in Upington town in the Northern Cape. Study population: The study population was all female rape survivors seen at Bopanang Centre, Upington in the Northern Cape Province. The sample size of women interviewed was 10 participants. Results: Most female rape survivors recall exceptionally well the events leading to the rape. All the survivors experienced various post rape distressful feelings ranging from anger, bitterness, humiliation, sadness, and confusion, self-blame and guilt, lack of trust and fear of men to the most extreme feelings such as crushed dignity and dead inside even considering committing suicide. Variable and inconsistent care of services had been offered to them, without fully considering their specific needs and experiences of females who had survived rape. Victimization and stigma were barriers for disclosure and reporting of the rape. Excessive alcohol use and abuse of sleeping pills had been reported by some of the survivors as a means to alleviate the post rape distress. From the study disclosure was the most important factor in determining how one was able to cope with distress following the rape. All those survivors who had good family support could cope reasonably well to deal with post rape distress. Conclusion: The study concludes that the experiences of female rape survivors seenat Bopanang Centre in Upington Northern Cape have not been adequately addressed by health care providers and stakeholders, health care and post rape services offered to them. Female rape survivors having a good family support cope reasonably well despite the distressful post rape feelings experiences they experience on a daily basis.

Rape has historically been constructed as a women’s issue and, as such, research has focused on female survivors of sexual assault. Current research on the topic indicates that the construction of female rape is structured by stereotypical gender roles and patriarchal/misogynistic structures. However, there is very little research on male rape. This exploratory thesis seeks to fill this gap by exploring how the meaning of male rape is constructed on Twitter posts that contain the hashtag “MaleRape”. Two thousand ninety-two tweets were collected. The final sample was comprised of 840 tweets and qualitative content analysis was the method used to code and organize the data. Preliminary analysis suggested that the constructions varied significantly by region; accordingly, the data were sorted into the following four regions: North America; Europe; Africa; and Asia. The analysis, rooted in critical feminism, explores how male rape is constructed in each region. The findings indicate that there is some consistency across regions, especially with respect to the ways in which patriarchal assumptions led to the denial of male rape and the silencing of survivors. However, there were interesting differences in the various regions. This thesis addresses the influence of heteronormative constructions and calls for more consideration of cultural differences when studying sexual violence.

Sexual assault is a global public health and human rights challenge which cuts across all social classes. According to a literature review based on 50 studies from around the world, between 10% and 50% of women have experienced some act of physical violence while one in every four women experience sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. In an emergency unit in the North West, South Africa there are policies, guidelines and procedures in place with regard to the management of the rape survivors after the incident which focus on a medical orientated approach. The views of female rape survivors on their management are neglected; therefore management is not patient-centred. The main objective of the study was to explore and describe the views of the female rape survivors regarding the management they received in emergency unit to enable the health care professionals to move towards a more patient-centred approach in the management these patients. Appreciative Inquiry was used a research methodology. A qualitative design using purposive sampling was used to select the participants. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 10 female rape survivors and Tesch steps were used to analyse the data. Three main themes were identified, namely 1) therapeutic environment, 2) optimal healthcare received and 3) excellence in service delivery. With regard to the disease orientated management received the female rape survivors found it to be good. The participants voiced that it is important that female rape survivors should have an opportunity to attend group therapy following the rape incident so that they are able to support each other. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Nursing Science / MCur / Unrestricted