South African lesbians are suffering rapes by men trying to "cure" their homosexuality, in what is becoming one of the most common hate crimes against gay women here, a new study said Friday.

Lesbians raped to ‘cure’ them

The study by the anti-poverty group ActionAid said that women living in townships in Johannesburg and Cape Town are reporting increasing attacks and murders by men committing so-called “corrective” rape.

South African women generally face a staggering risk of rape in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Almost half of South African women will be raped in their lifetime, according to the report, which said 500 000 rapes are committed each year, IOL News reports.