As rape crisis grows, South African pupils learn how to fight back

In a classroom in the South African township of Soweto, girls listen carefully, knowing they need to learn how to avoid the threat of rape that hangs over their daily lives.

"You are going to pretend that it is the rapist's testicles," says trainer Dimakatso Monokoli, holding out a padded target.

An 11-year-old girl charges without flinching and delivers a powerful knee slam.

It is part of a day of self-defence and rape avoidance strategies taught at the Thabisang school, where chairs and desks have been pushed back to the pink walls of the classroom.

Official statistics suggest that more than 110 rapes are recorded by the police every day in South Africa.

But such numbers are widely seen as inaccurate due to under-reporting. Some studies suggest only one in 13 rapes is reported to the police. Recent news stories have triggered fresh horror among South Africans over the prevalence of rape.

In September, a 17-year-old was raped in a hospital maternity ward by a man pretending to be a doctor one day after she had given birth.

Around the same time, a seven-year-old girl was raped in the toilets of a popular chain restaurant in the capital Pretoria, with a video footage emerging of the naked man moments after the attack.

For the African National Congress Women's League, drastic action is needed. "We have tried our best... there's nothing that seems to lower (the number of attacks). Hence, we are calling for chemical castration," ANCWL secretary general Meokgo Matuba said after the two rapes.

Back in another classroom in Soweto, Monokoli teaches not only self-defence, but how girls can read and react to potentially risky situations.

"Don't ever, ever make the mistake of being in the same room as someone you don't feel comfortable with because your guts have warned you," she says. "They have sent a message -- you are not supposed to be alone with that person."
"Violence has been normalised in South Africa," she told AFP. "There is so much rape that people have become desensitised to it."
In the classroom, the girls -- wearing their blue school uniform and long socks -- giggle occasionally but the atmosphere is serious and focused. "We are going to teach you how to fight smart, without strength," one male instructor tells them, pointing out they can always "rip off the ears and nostrils."