Editing Lesbian (section)

===Africa===
Cross-gender roles and marriage between women has also been recorded in over 30 African societies.<ref name="Aldrich2006"/>{{rp|p=262}} Women may marry other women, raise their children, and be generally thought of as men in societies in [[Nigeria]], [[Cameroon]], and [[Kenya]]. The [[Hausa people]] of [[Sudan]] have a term equivalent to lesbian, ''kifi'', that may also be applied to males to mean "neither party insists on a particular sexual role".<ref name="Aldrich2006"/>{{rp|p=259}}

Near the [[Congo River]], a female who participates in strong emotional or sexual relationships with another female among the [[Nkundo]] people is known as ''yaikya bonsángo'' (a woman who presses against another woman). Lesbian relationships are also known in matrilineal societies in [[Ghana]] among the [[Akan people]]. In [[Lesotho]], females engage in what is commonly considered sexual behavior to the Western world: they kiss, sleep together, rub genitals, participate in [[cunnilingus]], and maintain their relationships with other females vigilantly. Since the people of Lesotho believe sex requires a penis, they do not consider their behavior sexual, nor label themselves lesbians.<ref name="Aldrich2006"/>{{rp|pp=237–238}}

In Tanzania, lesbians are known as or called "Msagaji" (singular), "Wasagaji" (plural), which in Swahili means grinder or grinding because of the perceived nature of lesbian sex that would involve the mutual rubbing of vulvas.<ref name="Murray2000">{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Stephen O. |date=2000 |title=Homosexualities |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=0-226-55195-4 |page=249}}</ref>

In South Africa, [[Corrective rape|lesbians are sometimes raped by heterosexual men with a goal of punishment]] of "abnormal" behavior and reinforcement of societal norms.<ref name="Actionaid">{{Cite web |last1=Martin |first1=A |last2=Kelly A |last3=Turquet L |last4=Ross S |year=2009 |title=Hate crimes: The rise of 'corrective rape' in South Africa |url=http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/correctiveraperep_final.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508194540/http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/correctiveraperep_final.pdf |archive-date=May 8, 2012 |access-date=April 16, 2012 |publisher=[[ActionAid]] |pages=1–2}}</ref> The crime was first identified in South Africa<ref name="Janoff">{{cite book |last=Janoff |first=Douglas |title=Pink Blood: Homophobic Violence in Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=[[University of Toronto]] |date=2005}}</ref> where it is sometimes supervised by members of the woman's family or local community,<ref name="Bartle">{{Cite journal |last=Bartle |first=EE |year=2000 |title=Lesbians And Hate Crimes |journal=[[Journal of Poverty]] |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1300/J134v04n04_02 |s2cid=144939243}}</ref> and is a major contributor to [[HIV]] infection in South African lesbians.<ref name="Actionaid" /> "Corrective rape" is not recognized by the South African legal system as a [[hate crime]] despite the fact that the [[South African Constitution]] states that no person shall be discriminated against based on their [[social status]] and identity, including sexual orientation.<ref name="Mieses">{{cite journal|last=Mieses |first=Alexa |title=Gender Inequality and Corrective Rape of Women Who Have Sex with Women |journal=GMHC Treatment Issues |date=2009 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref name="RapeCNN">{{Cite news |date=October 31, 2011 |title=Corrective rape: The BackStory |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/international/2011/10/31/bs-mabuse-corrective-rape.cnn |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref name="CNN">{{Cite news |date=7 November 2011 |title=They call it 'corrective rape' |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/international/2011/11/07/worlds-untold-stories-corrective-rape-a.cnn |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Legally, South Africa protects gay rights extensively, but the government has not taken proactive action to prevent corrective rape, and women do not have much faith in the police and their investigations.<ref name="Di">{{cite journal |last1=Di Silvio |first1=Lorenzo |title=Correcting Corrective Rape: Carmichele and Developing South Africa's Affirmative Obligations To Prevent Violence Against Women |journal=[[Georgetown Law Journal]] |volume=99 |issue=5 |date=2011 |pages=1469–1515}}</ref><ref name="Mabuse">{{Cite news |last=Mabuse |first=Nkepile |date=28 October 2011 |title=Horror of South Africa's 'corrective rape' |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/27/world/wus-sa-rapes/ |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

Corrective rape is reported to be on the rise in South Africa. The South African nonprofit "[[Luleki Sizwe]]" estimates that more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang-raped on a weekly basis.<ref name="Contemporary Sexuality">{{cite journal |title=South African lesbians at risk for 'corrective rape' |journal=[[Contemporary Sexuality]] |volume=45 |number=7 |date=2011 |page=8}}</ref> As made public by the [[Triangle Project]] in 2008, at least 500 lesbians become victims of corrective rape every year and 86% of black lesbians in the [[Western Cape]] live in fear of being [[sexually assaulted]].<ref name="Di" /> Victims of corrective rape are less likely to report the crime because of their society's negative beliefs about homosexuality.<ref name="Di" />