I'm not specifically blaming the one crime of rape on poverty, Wesley. Rape occurs for many reasons, and is not just done by the poor.

I'm saying that South Africa is a country beset with extreme poverty, and that extreme poverty results in a great deal of violent crime in a general sense. Period. Rape is one among many different types of violent crimes. Yes, it has to do with control and domination....meaning: the assertion of personal power. People who are living in poverty generally feel powerless and frustrated. The more aggressive individuals react to their feelings of powerlessness and frustration by striking out in various ways at other people...or other people's property. They might commit robberies, they might simply engage in domestic family violence, they might riot, or they might rape someone....that depends on their individual psychological makeup, doesn't it?

Of course it is true that rich people sometimes rape too! (Duh!) But that was not my point. My point was that poverty increases the incidence of all violent crimes....NOT that poverty is the one and only source of violent crimes.

Another place where you see poverty and desperation leading to a great deal of rape, robbery, murder, and other forms of violent crime right now is Haiti. Same basic problem....terrible poverty, greatly exacerbated by the recent earthquake and the devastation that followed it.

If you resist the tendency to interpret whatever I am saying in an "all or nothing" fashion, then you will understand what I am saying, which is simply that a society beset with great poverty is normally a society with a much higher violent crime rate than a society which is not beset with great poverty.

And the longterm solution is to improve that society by raising the standard of living, improving public education, providing employment and good wages for people, improving public health care, etc...

The long way. The hard way. The intelligent way. The only REAL way to fix the problem.

That would require idealism and the highest of intentions at the top levels of leadership in that society, wouldn't it? It would also require the expenditure of a great deal of public money in improving social infrastructure.

Awww, gee.....but that's too difficult! It would take a long time and a great deal of effort. It would require the rich giving away some of their money to the poor. Naw. Let's just take violent revenge upon a few individual rapists, and then we'll feel so much better, and it'll hardly cost us anything! ;-) In fact...we can make some MONEY selling some $2 condoms to local girls (and $2 is probably a fair bit of money in South Africa these days). Bonus!