NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN
OF SOUTH AFRICA
(Affiliated to the International Council of Women in
1913)
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE
SEXUAL OFFENCES LEGISLATION:
1.
"The
Sexual Offences legislation is not going forwards it is going backwards and we
need to go forwards and demand the status quo be maintained on the access to
anti-retroviral therapy for victims after rape. The law already gives rapists
complete access but the Sexual Offences Bill is now seeking to further
victimise their victims.
2.
"Activists
feel let down by Sexual Offences Bill" - Sunday Independent, May 7th 2006,
states that Samantha Waterhouse of RAPCAN, is of the opinion that if only
survivors who report rape to the police have access to HIV post -exposure
prophylaxis, this means the majority of people who need, it will not access it.
Further this is a step backward from the existing position of the dept of
health policy where a police docket is not a requirement for access the ARVs.
3.
Several
experts at universities have pointed out that a power imbalance between the
perpetrator and rape victim makes reporting difficult and in some cases
impossible. And, the cost of not reporting to the police in order to access
ARVs can mean a death sentence for the victim who may become HIV positive.
4.
Helene
Combrink, of the University of the Western Cape on the Fokus programme on TV2
on 14th May 2006, has spoken of the power imbalance preventing reporting.
Professor Merryll Vorster of WITS who is Professor of Psychiatry also concurs
in a discussion with Professor Cleaton-Jones. Medically and legally the power
imbalance is a deterrent for many to reporting. This may be in incest cases or
in the workplace situation when a job is dependent on the person who holds the
power over a worker.
5.
Joan Van
Niekerk, in the Sunday Independent article also expresses fears that the bill
is gearing up to dismantle the specialised sexual offences courts. And in my
view when read alongside the police restructuring which is set to disappear the
specialised units this may well be the case.
(Fran Cleaton-Jones National Adviser for
Child, Family and Youth)