South Africa Unable to Deal With Child Abuse
Originally published by Reuters, April 23, 2002
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) — South Africa's criminal justice system is unable to deal with escalating child sex abuse and compounds the trauma of abused children, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said on Tuesday.
A report released by the commission urged the government to make sexual violence against children a priority, create special courts for the crime and train all policemen, social workers and health professionals on how to handle cases of child abuse.
"We know it's there, we know it's happening--it's horrific and it's getting worse by the day," SAHRC Chairman Shirley Mabusela told reporters. "The truth of the matter is our children are not safe with anyone…teachers, priests, police or social workers or even their own parents in their own homes."
Some 21,000 cases of child rape were reported to the South African police in 2001, most committed by relatives of victims. They have included a highly publicised spate of baby rapes, which many believe are fueled by a myth that sex with a virgin will protect a man against AIDS or even cure him of the disease.
The report said police, physicians and prosecutors did not have the appropriate skills, patience or empathy to deal with abused children, who were often not adequately prepared for court trials.
"The inquiry reveals that despite all the initiatives that have been put in place, the criminal justice system is ineffective in policing child abuse cases and is hostile to sexually abused children," it added. "On the whole, sexually abused children's experience with the criminal justice system compounds their trauma."
Mabusela said it was impossible to estimate the prevalence of child abuse in South Africa. But the report noted that studies carried out in the central Gauteng province in the past couple of years provide evidence that sexual violence is common.
SAHRC Commissioner Charlotte McClain said that reported child abuse of girls between the ages of 12 and 17 were treated as suspect because of the belief that they were sexually active. The report urged all reported child abuse cases to be treated with equal seriousness and recommended that drugs to prevent the spread of AIDS be immediately given to all victims.
