Corrective rape is a criminal practice, whereby men rape lesbian women, purportedly as a means of “curing” the woman of her sexual orientation. Despite South Africa being the first nation on earth to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, the first African country to legalize same-sex marriage and the world’s first republic to guarantee LGBT citizens equal rights in all realms of life (including adoption and military service), cases of corrective rape have been on the rise. Luleki Sizwe is a South African charity that works to rescue, support, feed and nurse to health survivors of corrective rape. Luleki Sizwe was founded in 2007 by community activist Ndumie Funda after her fiancée was the a victim of corrective rape. According to Luleki Sizewe there are at least 10 gang rapes a week in Cape Town: According to the organization, every week more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang raped in the city of Cape Town alone. 150 women are raped every day in South Africa and over the past decade 31 lesbians have been murdered because of their sexuality. 510 women report being the victims of ‘corrective rape’ in South Africa each year. Luleki Sizwe created a petition on change.org targeting South African Justice Minister Jeffrey Radebe calling on the South African government to declare “Corrective Rape” a Hate-Crime that is punishable by the harshest sentences! At the time of writing, there were 63,994 signatures. The petition has become the most popular Change.org petition of all time: This is now the most popular Change.org petition of all time! But what has the minister done in response? Absolutely nothing. That's about to change, with a new petition calling on Minister Radebe to meet with Luleki Sizwe founder Ndumie Funda. For regular updates on the ‘corrective rape’ campaign please ‘Like’ the Human Rights Facebook and Twitter pages and try to check in regularly. There is a widespread belief that homosexuality is unAfrican and should be abolished: However, there is a widespread belief that homosexuality is ‘unAfrican’; the assertion of ‘unAfricanness’ conceals a moral and cultural view that African societies are somehow unique and immune to what is perceived to be a Western and European import. The systematic vilification of homosexuality by several African leaders over the years has fuelled these perceptions, which are deeply rooted in culture and tradition. Eudy Simelane, a football star in the South African national soccer team, was gang raped and then murdered in 2008. Thato Mpithi pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment in one of the most successful cases against corrective rape: The long awaited judgment in the murder trial of lesbian activists and former Banyana Banyana player Eudy Simelane was concluded today in Delmas.Khumbulane Magagula,Johannes Mahlangu and Themba Mvubu faced the charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances,rape and murder Simelane.Thato Mphiti was convicted of the same crimes in February 2009 for the same crimes to 32 years imprisonment. The South African the justice system is accused of failing the victims by letting the perpetrators out on ridiculously low bail: Last month the South African authorities released Andile Ngcoza, a man who raped, beat up and strangled Millicent Gaika (pictured) for five hours to ‘turn her straight’, in a case that has been well covered by Change.org. Mr Ngcoza was released on R60 bail, the equivalent of less than $10. That led Ndumie Funda, who had helped Millicent Gaika recover from the rape and advocated for her case, to go into hiding. Lesego Tlhwale argues that corrective rape strips women off their basic human rights as enshrined in international laws: South Africa for one is faced by a pandemic of violations against lesbian women called Corrective Rape, this form of violation is used to brutalise women by members of the opposite sex as a means to ‘correct’ their sexual orientation. This vile practice does not only violate women but also strips them off their basic human rights as enshrined in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other international laws. Michael Jones argues that the practice should be a hate crime: If the phrase “corrective rape” sounds jarring to you, it should. It's a brutal concept whereby straight people think that LGBT folks can be “cured” through forced sex. The practice has become systemic and widespread in South Africa, particularly against the lesbian community, with upwards of ten new cases of corrective rape being reported each week. And that's just in Cape Town alone. Yet despite its heinous and vile nature, corrective rape is not considered a hate crime in South Africa. And that's something that a small yet vocal group of women want to change.