Corrective rape, also called curative or homophobic rape, is a hate crime in which a person is sexually assaulted because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, with perpetrators claiming the assault is meant to make the victim heterosexual or conform to traditional gender norms. It predominantly targets LGBTQ people, particularly lesbians, and has been documented across many countries including South Africa, where the term originated, as well as Kenya, Jamaica, Nigeria, Uganda, India, Zimbabwe and the United States. UNAIDS discouraged the term corrective rape in 2015, recommending homophobic rape instead, and South Africa passed hate crime legislation in 2014 after sustained activist pressure, though its implementation has remained inconsistent.
Facts
Notable ExampleEudy Simelane, a South African soccer player, abducted, gang-raped and killed in KwaThema on 28 April 2008. 1 Classification
Offense GradeSerious or Indictable Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
Sources
1. Corrective rape, Wikipedia
South AfricaQuote, South Africa
On 28 April 2008, 31-year-old soccer player Eudy Simelane was abducted, gang-raped and killed in KwaThema, her hometown near Johannesburg.
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