By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
ASIA– Nearly 24% of men surveyed in a U.N. report looking at violence against women in parts of Asia have admitted to committing at least one rape. Some ten thousand men from six countries took part in the survey.
Researchers interviewed more than 10,000 men at nine sites in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia,Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka in a first of its kind, multi-country survey on the prevalence of rape. Of those who admitted rape, just under half said they had done so more than once.
The prevalence of rape varied between countries.
In Papua New Guinea, more than six out of 10 men surveyed admitted forcing a woman to have sex. It was least common in areas of Bangladesh, where it was just under one in 10 and Sri Lanka where it was just over one in 10. In Cambodia, China and Indonesia it ranged from one in five to almost half of all men surveyed.
The men in the survey were questioned by trained male interviewers, and were left alone to record the answers to the most sensitive questions. The word “rape” was not used. Men were asked indirect questions such as, “Have you ever forced a woman who was not your wife or girlfriend at the time to have sex?” The results averaged around 11% of the men surveyed. When the question was altered to account for forcible intercourse with a wife or girlfriend, the average rose to 24%.
Nearly three quarters of those who committed rape said they did so for reasons of “sexual entitlement”. Report author Dr Emma Fulu said: “They believed they had the right to have sex with the woman regardless of consent.”
“The second most common motivation reported was to rape as a form of entertainment, so for fun or because they were bored,” Fulu reported. Some indicated using rape as a form of punishment or because they were angry. According to Fulu, “the least common motivation was alcohol.”
Men who had suffered violence as children, especially childhood sexual abuse were more likely to have committed rape.
“These data justifiably create global outrage, accentuated by horrific recent high-profile cases, including the brutal gang rape of a student in New Delhi,” said Dr. Michele Decker from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
More than half of non-partner rape perpetrators first did so as adolescents, which affirms that young people are a crucial target population for prevention of rape.
“The challenge now is to turn evidence into action, to create a safer future for the next generation of women and girls,” said Dr. Decker.
For more information, please see:
Hindustan Times — Asia-Pacific study points to a seething crisis of rape — 10 September 2013
The Hindu — ‘One in four men across Asia admit to having committed rape’ — 10 September 2013
BBC — Almost a quarter of men ‘admit to rape in parts of Asia’ — 9 September 2013
Bloomberg — One in Four Men Surveyed in Asian Study Say They Raped — 10 September 2013
