South Africa: UN chief speaks out on corrective rape

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay has publicly condemned the scourge of corrective rapes in South Africa saying they are 'a serious crime that should never be tolerated nor condoned.' In an article published on 14 June by The Star newspaper in South Africa, Pillay asserted that South Africa had 'given the world some powerful ideas, among them the concept of the Rainbow Nation, where diversity is a source of strength and everyone is entitled to equal rights and respect.' She added, 'However it is saddening that the country reborn under Nelson Mandela’s watchful eye should now be the setting for corrective rape, a far more sinister phenomenon that undermines everything the Rainbow Nation stands for.'