[imagesource: Instagram / @millieterblanche]

We’re inclined to poke fun at Love Island SA now and again.

After all, producers pick the contestants they do because they are easy on the eye, without what I assume is much thought given to how informed they are on a wide range of topics.

It’s one thing to botch a spelling bee, but it’s quite another to crack a ‘joke’ about rape, though, which is why Love Island SA contestant Camille Terblanché (or Millie as she is known) has been called out.

Millie and another contestant, Tania, were having a conversation about Tania’s love match, Ross.

Here’s The Citizen to set the scene:

Ross revealed to her he was saving himself for marriage. This didn’t sit well with Tania as she expressed her concerns in a “humorous” way to Millie.

That is when the “rape” joke was made by Millie.

Millie can be heard saying what some say is “rape him”, and others say is “rapist”, towards the end of the clip below:

// TW: r*pe
What Millie said is not okay. I think a lot off people didn’t hear cause she whispered it. #LoveIslandSA @LoveIsland_SA pic.twitter.com/a2BmyX3vGu

— yas. (@supernovayb) April 2, 2021

I don’t think we need to quote this country’s horrific rape and sexual assault statistics here to explain why the ‘joke’ has been so widely panned.

M-Net responded to The Citizen by saying that they aware of the comments, and have taken action:

“While we note that the contestant referred to the matter in jest, we strongly condemn the trivialising of such grave matters and apologise to our viewers and stakeholders for exposing them to such.

“We have reprimanded the contestant and implemented sensitivity training for the whole cast and crew. All contestants are being supported by a qualified Psychologist. We have also removed the offensive language from all repeat broadcasts of the programme.”

On Millie’s most recent Instagram post, from February 13, the comments are scathing:

For the ‘but it’s just a joke’ brigade, consider this, from Keep The Energy, a non-profit organisation which aims to “fight gender-based violence against women, children and LGBTQIA+ persons”:

Joking about rape and sexual assault assists in normalising these offences. A rape joke is a far cry from an actual incident of sexual assault, but think of the rape jokes as the foundation of the pyramid of rape culture.

If you take away the foundation — if you create a situation where rape jokes are unacceptable, instead of a situation where victims feel forced to bite their tongues and bear it — then everything else will be a little bit less likely to take root and flourish.

Truth.

Keep The Energy stressed that the aim of them speaking out was not to incite bullying and hate towards Millie or Love Island SA, but rather to educate.

[sources:citizen&keeptheenergy]