INSTITUTE
FOR CHILD WITNESS RESEARCH AND TRAINING
SUBMISSION
CRIMINAL
LAW (SEXUAL OFFENCES AND RELATED MATTERS) AMENDMENT BILL
Members of the Institute for Child
Witness Research and Training (hereafter referred to as the Institute) have
focused on issues pertaining to child witness testimony in criminal trials for
the past 16 years. The Institute is a
multi-disciplinary organisation that examines and proposes reforms to legal
procedure affecting child witnesses by incorporating psychological theories and
principles.
The
Institute was involved in the South African Law Reform Commission’s workshops
where debate on the content of Bill took place. Submissions were made with specific focus on procedural reform
with respect to the child witness. The
Institute was also recently invited to attend a workshop hosted by Childline SA
to debate the final Bill currently under review by Parliament. At this point, the Institute would like to
indicate support of the recent submissions made by Childline SA as a result of
the latter workshops, and will, therefore, not repeat these submissions.
The
Institute would like to submit the following concerns with regard to the
content of the Bill:
- It is
of great concern that, although the SALRC invited experts in the field of
sexual crimes against men, women and children to contribute to the
submissions and discussions around the proposed Bill, these opinions and
suggestions, mainly pertaining to the introduction of special measures for
victims of sexual crimes in accordance with the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, United Nations
Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse
of Power and other related international instruments, have been plainly ignored by the coordinating Ministerial Body, which
does not have the expertise and knowledge of these contributors.
- It is
of concern that the Bill declares that ANYONE who suspects that a child is
being sexually abused is mandated by law to report their suspicions
s16(3). How is it possible for a
layperson to become equipped with the skills to recognise the complex
symptoms of sexual abuse when, as was argued during the Childline hosted
workshops, even teachers who are currently mandated by law to report
suspicions of sexual abuse, are not equipped to do so?
- Although
the new definition of rape is applauded by the Institute, the fact that
there are 27 new sexual offences crimes outlined in the Bill seems extreme
and it is doubtful whether our current system will have the ability to
investigate and prosecute all allegations effectively.
- Finally,
the original working group of experts requested to contribute towards the
draft Bill included submissions on a much needed rehabilitative element
for the pre and post-trial management of victims of sexual crimes. This rehabilitative approach has been
almost completely removed from the current Bill, save for the sections on
HIV/Aids treatment, leaving victims no recourse to therapy and other
essential post-trauma services. It
is submitted that this rehabilitative approach should be reintroduced into
the Bill in light of the statistics on juvenile sex offenders (43% of all
sexual offenders are juveniles: Childline SA) and the well documented
research that child victims of sexual offences can become sexual offenders.
Please
do not hesitate to contact the Institute for any case and/or research-based
substantiation of these concerns. The
Institute appreciates this opportunity to comment on the Bill.