#32 - The Aversion Project (Dakota Linton)

The Aversion Project was a medical torture program in South Africa led by Dr. Aubrey Levin[1] during apartheid. The project identified gay soldiers as conscripts who used drugs in the South African Defence Forces (SADF). Victims were forced to submit to "curing" their homosexuality[1] because the SADF considered homosexuality to be "subversive" and those who were homosexual were subject to punishment.[2] The approach taken by the SADF to treating the homosexual and transsexual patients were done with extremely old knowledge that can be taken back to the ideologies of Havelock Ellis.[3] The requirement for homosexuals going through gender reassignment surgery is to have extensive assessment and a period of supervision for two years.[3] In 1995 the Medical Association of South Africa issued a public apology for past wrongdoings.