A report submitted to the University of Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology by Coursework and Research
Report
The Department of Sociology
The Faculty of Humanities
March 2016 / Rape is an important topic of enquiry in South Africa due to the high incidences of rape and
the underreporting of the crime to legal authorities. This research is exploratory in nature and
is concerned with how the four women interviewed employ specific narratives to aid or
inhibit their ability to speak about their experience of being raped, and the ways in which
rape survivors position themselves within their own stories and societal discourses of rape. A
detailed analysis was done of the research available on hegemonic masculine power, societal
discourses and myths about rape, silencing and personal and public narratives. Through this
analysis rape is placed within a framework of patriarchy and control. Four female rape
survivors living in Johannesburg were found using targeted sampling, and were interviewed
using a recording devise and unstructured, one-on-one interviews. These interviews were
transcribed and coded, and then analysed using Thematic Narrative Analysis. Great care was
taken throughout the research process to ensure that it is ethical and that no harm was done to
any of the interviewees or anyone else. It was found that each of the interviewees came to
represent three distinct narratives, namely the stranger rape narrative, the date/acquaintance
rape narrative and the child rape narrative. These narratives appear to sometimes be in
tension and conflict with one another, creating confusion in the positionality and believability
of the rape survivor. It was also found that narratives are often employed as ways of defining
the experience of rape and challenging rape myths and public narratives of rape. The women
interviewed for the purposes of this paper drew attention to various themes within their
narratives, such as tensions between their own experience of rape and societal discourses of
rape, empowerment, safe spaces to talk about trauma, education, consent and control. Further
research could be conducted to explore this topic in greater detail and expand upon the
knowledge that was gathered and investigated in this research report. / MT2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/21816 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Gatonby, Ciara Ann |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (110 leaves), application/pdf, application/pdf |
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