Hacker News Reader

Comment by pythonic_hell | Hacker News Reader

This statment is factually incorrect and is a common alt-right talking point that is repeated on the internet with little factual basis in reality.

There are a few reasons for this;

* Different definitions of rape across countries and time

* Rape offences are counted differently

* An echo-chamber effect - lazy journalism

* Under-reporting rates are unknown and are often extrapolated by Statistics South Africa

You can find out more at this report created by AfricaCheck - a non-partisan media and statistics watchdo;

https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/why-its-wrong-ca...

View on HN

It seems like sexual violence in SA is very high, I don't see how you can claim otherwise after reading the Wikipedia entry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_violence_in_South_Afric...

You are correct, violence and sexual violence are a big issue in South Africa. By no means was I trying to say that it isn’t but there’s a big difference between being a “rape capital” and having high rates of sexual violence.

The term “rape/murder capital of the world” is often perpetrated and encouraged by neo-nazi pundits to stoke “white fear” with miss representations of the facts. This is why it’s important to understand the nuances and context of these statistics inorder to avoid falling into the dogmatic conversations.

You could counter this argument by saying that to minimize the problem is anti feminist. The term "rape capital" indeed sounds hyperbolic but maybe it will help mobilize the people in charge there to do something about it.

Thanks, will read it.

On the other note, please refrain from such lame attempts at "guilty by association" tactic. No need to drag your local boogie man into international discussion.

Apologies I didn’t mean to paint you as such. I went ahead and edited my original post to be less aggressive.

I just wanted to point out that this is a frequent talking point peddled by American neo-nazies that is frustratingly repeated on the internet with little honest interrogation.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com