REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY TASK GROUP ON THE SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN

12 June 2002

2. Summary of submissions

2.1 Access

2.1.1 Problems

• The nature of data collection regarding women and children is problematic. For example the SAPS will not provide disaggregated data for age on the various crimes. Children are defined as under the age of 15 years and women as 16 years and over. This underestimated the number of children affected by crimes.
• There is an assumption in the ABC strategy that young people consent to sex. Children often lack the power to abstain or to use condoms.
• Fear of HIV/Aids is driving some men to have sex with young children.
• Poverty is a key structural factor that results in abuse. Children are affected the most by poverty.
• Environmental poverty such as leaving children in the care of unsuitable care-givers, overcrowded conditions exacerbated the vulnerability of children.
• The lack of comprehensive social security means that a limited number of children receive grants. The allocated grants are limited and have not increased significantly over the years. This means that in fact there is an actual decrease in the number of children reached by these grants.

2.1.2 Recommendations

• Introduce a comprehensive social security system for all South Africans . A basic income grant is supported.
• Improve access to the Child Support Grant.
• Revisit the care dependency grant criteria to include those that are HIV positive.
• Improve healthcare delivery for sexual abuse survivors.
• Increase and improve the quality of care and support to survivors of violence.
• Restructure the budgetary allocation and commitments to social service spending to address child poverty.
• Adopt the United Nations 20/20 initiative, which is aimed at encouraging donor government and institutions to direct more than 20% of their resources to social spending. It also encourages governments of developing countries to do the same with their domestic expenditure.

2.2 Aids Orphans Community Programme

This submission pointed out that there has been a notable increase in the incidence of child rape, with girls younger than eight years increasingly being targets. It further maintains that in many cases, the rights and protection of children are ignored by government officials, police, teachers, nurses, justice officials and University Law Clinics.

The submission outlines the conditions that lead to the increase in sexual abuse of children in South Africa as being:

• A culture of violence and victimisation;
• A breakdown of the family unit;
• Lack of respect for children's rights and priorities;
• Disrespect of girls and women by men;
• Myths about curing HIV;
• Shocking neglect of cases by police and the justice system;
• A culture of impunity towards the law.

  2.2.1 Recommendations

  • Police and protection services, and the justice system, are held accountable for cases that they are investigating and prosecuting. They must ensure that their work is done thoroughly and timeously;
  • Children are provided with support, protection and counselling services;
  • Child protection units should be strengthened and capacitated with experienced and dedicated professionals;
  • Special courts should be provided for efficient and fast prosecutions and added protection for children through child friendly services in court;
  • The government to act immediately against police and justice officials who aid and abet the work of child rapists and abusers, by allowing cases to be badly investigated, delayed, ignored and even mislaid.
  • The establishment of an Ombudsman to deal with follow-up on cases which are reported, but continually delayed or reneged on by the police and justice system;
  • Immediate testing for HIV of all sexual offenders;
  • Justice officials to oppose bail and heed minimum sentencing criteria for crimes against children.

2.3 Anonymous

The anonymous writer of a letter to the Task Group mentions that his or her grandchild was raped, allegedly by a preacher, but that despite numerous attempts to bring the matter to the attention of the Police, there has been no movement on the case. The writer suggests that there may have been collusion between the accused and the corrupt police officials.

The submission does not make any recommendations.

2.4 Baby Rape and Child Abuse Investigation Task Team

The submission focused on the role that society plays in creating the environment for such abuse. It argued that South African society is "sick" since it views children as disposable, views sex as casual, tolerates degrading depiction of women and to a large extent tolerates rape. The submission calls for the introduction of stricter sentences but acknowledges that it will not solve the problem. The problem lies in the religious faith of our society that has weakened, thereby negatively affecting the moral fibre.

2.4.1 Proposals

• The 1997 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act must be abolished;
• The Government must not fund LoveLife and other programmes that promote immoral behaviour.
• Government must support abstinence until marriage;
• The SABC must not be allowed to promote immoral values;
• The sale and possession of pornography must be made illegal;
• The death penalty for rapists and child abusers must be introduced.

The presentation concludes by showing the links between pornography and the abuse of children. A number of local and international case studies are used.

2.5 Cape Town Child Welfare Society

The submission was based on the need for developing effective capacity building programmes at community level. These programmes have to be cost effective and integrated within the broader legal and justice areas in terms of the protection agencies and courts of law. The Society manages a number of programmes, the latest of which is the Isolobantwana (The Eye on the Children) Programme. This is an innovative, cost effective community capacity building programme aimed at preventing and eradicating child abuse in the communities that the Society serves. The Society impressed upon members of the Task Group the critical importance of social workers and volunteers to ensure successful outreach and programme operations.

2.5.1 The Isolabantwana approach

The programme is structured in such a way that communities identify selected volunteers. These volunteers are trained by the social workers to enable them to deal with cases of child abuse, neglect and family care. The training focuses on topics such as the signs and symptoms of child abuse, parenting skills, legislation and conflict management. After training, the volunteers' knowledge is tested before they are authorised by the Commissioner of Child Welfare to legally remove a child from the primary caregiver in the case of a threat to the child's safety. This is a major breakthrough for the programme, as previously, legislation allowed only police officers and social workers to perform this function. Trained volunteers fulfil specific roles among which would be to:

• Serve on the Management Committee, which manages the programme and assumes responsibility for sustaining it.
• Assist to investigate cases that are referred to them, counsel vulnerable families or monitor problematic cases for social workers.
• Provide places of safety. Volunteers open their homes to provide care to abused, neglected and abandoned children for up to a maximum of 48 hours, until the matter can be followed up by social workers.
• Fulfil a preventative role by facilitating regular public awareness meetings about pertinent issues in their communities.

2.5.2 Problems previously experienced

• Many abused and neglected children did not receive the necessary assistance, as cases were not reported to the welfare society.
• Most of the communities face similar problems such as unemployment, illiteracy, broken families, substance abuse etc.
• Social workers often felt overloaded with high caseloads, limited human and other resources to deal effectively with cases.

2.5.3 Attempts to address the concerns

• Empowering the community by training selected community members to be available to children at risk.
• Building capacity within communities by increasing their knowledge about resources and responsibility.
• Enhancing networking among communities and harnessing their resources in order to render an effective 24-hour child protection service.

2.5.4 Benefits of the Programme

• It is very cost-effective and services are localised at the community level.
• It has increased the productivity of social workers.
• It has provided a 24-hour child protection service for the target communities.
• It has effectively empowered communities to take responsibility for their lives and the safety of their children.

2.6 Child Abuse Action Group

The submission provides a perspective of gaps in existing legislation/service providers in protecting children in South Africa.

2.6.1 Problems -Social Services

• Too understaffed to deliver necessary assistance to the abused child and their family;
• The Department of Social Development "appears to only do traffic control" - child and or family are just routed from one home to other;
• No trauma therapy or very little ongoing therapy takes places, especially where the family is unable to afford private therapists;
• False hope about a positive outcome is created in the abused and traumatised child that if he/she reports the abuse;
• Sniggered by the police, peace officers when they try and report their ordeal;
• Victims have to travel far and wait for hours amongst other patients to have a medical attendant examine them;
• Medical attendants are often untrained and insensitive to the emotional state of the child;
• Inadequate training of medical personnel to recognise abuse and insufficient information is recorded and this often impacts on the evidence in court proceedings;
• Some medical practitioners are foreigners and when they leave the country, there is a reluctance or unwillingness to return for the trial or the state cannot afford to pay the bill for their return to the trial.

2.6.2 Problems - Education

Although the Department of Education has embarked on the Life Skills Programme to highlight the aspects of child abuse, it is also important that communities understand that it is also their duty to protect the children. However, many communities are unable to recognise abuse, as it is a way of life.

2.6.3 Problems - Judicial System

• The time it takes to obtain and to see any form of justice is traumatic;
• The impact of this slow process has had negative effects on the child in terms of emotional, educational and social outcomes;
• While there are options for communities to provide input at parole hearings, most often family members are not notified when these hearings take place to lodge their input.
• Conviction rates are low.

2.6.4 Recommendations

• The tendency is to place the child back with the abuser - why not remove the perpetrator.
• The judicial system has to be speeded up;
• As there are perpetrators at all the different levels of society, it is imperative to have private and impartial evaluators of a child who reports abuse;
• The child must receive appropriate therapy to deal with the abuse and society's ability inability to prosecute;
• The child should not be sent to industrial schools or institutions as it appears that their disclosure has punished them while to them it appears that the perpetrators are the heroes;
• It is crucial that communities be encouraged to attend workshops where communities are conscientised around the issue;
• The infrastructure of the various departments need to be established to provide ongoing workshops for communities;
• Officials need to be sensitised to the emotional and mental make-up of the abused child so that the process of interrogation and investigation is conducted in a sensitive manner without inflicting more damage
• Correctional services officials need to compile and understand the profiles of child abusers and their impact on society.

2.7 Child and Family Welfare Society of Pietermaritzburg

This submission makes recommendations and suggestions about the adoption of a model of better management of child abuse cases. The paper outlines the problems encountered in South Africa when dealing with the issue of sexual abuse of children and thereafter provides a model of managing child abuse based on the Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) Concept. Research has been conducted on the way in which the system currently operates in the United States of America. The Child and Family Welfare Society of Pietermaritzburg is currently engaged in a national project co-ordinated by the South African Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (SASPCAN), which is looking at the viability and establishment of such centres. The paper argues that because of the problems encountered with the present system, the Children's Advocacy Centres (CACs) model provides a useful tool to replicate in the South African context.

The model argues for a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary response to child abuse, ranging from interviews, case tracking, medical services etc. The envisaged model is based on the concept of the one-stop centres but this model's primarily focus will be on strengthening children who are sexually abused.

2.8 Child Protection Programme, University of the Western Cape

2.8.1 Problems

• Child abuse is not confined to a social class.
• Poverty places children at risk.
• Child protection workers are struggling to find a balance between protection and poverty eradication.

2.8.2 Recommendations

• The Department of Social Development should complete the National Strategy on Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation and provide a completed draft to Cabinet.
• An inter-ministerial committee should be established to oversee the implementation of the strategy. The main aim of the committee should be to establish inter-sectoral co-operation at national and provincial level.
• Cabinet should allocate grants to fast-track the implementation of the strategy and should mandate all national departments to prioritise implementation of the strategy.
• Provision should be made for implementation in the medium-term expenditure framework.
• There is a focus on community based interventions and therefore a consultative approach on policy is important as is the need for all relevant departments to form partnerships with NGO's, the business sector, research and training institutions and community based organisations to impact both on the development and implementation of a strategy.
• Social services should be a desk in local government structures.
• Neighbourhood childhood intervention is important but links are needed to support these services.

2.9 Childline-South Africa

2.9.1 Childline's services

The Organisation represents six regional Childline structures that provide 24-hour toll-free crisis telephone counselling services to children and their families or caretakers, throughout the country. A total of 50 000 calls are received each month.
Other services offered include:

• Treatment of abused children and their families.
• Court preparation for the child survivor.
• Abuse education and prevention programmes.
• Training of lay counsellors, both for the crisis counselling lines as well as for remote rural and semi-rural areas where there are no formal resources providing services in the field of management and prevention of child abuse.
• Training of professionals who work with abused children.Some Childline centres provide for the treatment of child, adolescent and adult sexual offenders.
• Sexual abuse is the single largest category of child problems that Childline deals with. Their services tend to be used by the poorer sections of our communities as services are free. Any child or caregiver, who has access to a telephone, has access to Childline.

2.9.2 Childline's experiences

After conducting an overview of statistics of reported child abuse over the last 10 years Childline has noted:

• A massive increase in the number of reported cases of child sexual abuse of up to 400%.
• A decrease in the average age of the sexual assault victim. In 1991 the average age of the sexually assaulted child was between 10 and 12 years. Presently, 50% of all children attending KZN'S therapy services after sexual abuse are under the age of seven years.
• A decrease in the average age of the sexual offender.
• An escalation in the use of brute force.

2.9.3 Causal factors

• The socio-political history of the country has eroded family and community life.
• Broken family lives. Particularly the family life (or lack thereof) of child offenders is characterised by severe emotional, relationship and/or physical deprivation.
• The traditional methods of teaching young people responsible sexual behaviour have been lost and acceptable alternatives have not yet been integrated into family life.
• The HIV/Aids pandemic and the myths that accompany it have also contributed to the vulnerability of children.
• The pandemic of domestic violence.
• Poverty.
• There is lack of financial support for the NGO Sector that works in the field of child sexual assault.
• The lack of service delivery, free schooling and employment opportunities for youth, especially those living in poverty.
• The Government has failed to accept, develop and implement the National Child Protection Strategy.

2.9.4 Solutions to the problems

• Law Reform. The presenter supported the review of the Sexual Offences Act & Child Care Act that is currently underway. However, she argues unless resources and political will are committed to the implementation of law, these acts will remain "paper tigers". Although some progressive legislation is already in place, it is simply not implemented.
• The development and implementation of a National Child Protection Strategy.
• Role-players in the criminal justice system who fail in their responsibility to protect children through corruption, disinterest and carelessness must be held accountable for their failure and disciplined appropriately.
• Resources must be committed to projects that effectively protect children from abuse and manage children after they have been abused.
• Role-players who work within the child protection system must be appropriately selected for their roles, appropriately trained, and appropriately debriefed on a regular basis.
• The Department of Education should be encouraged to include in its life skills education the teaching of human rights, impulse management and responsible sexual behaviour. These skills should be taught to all learners, both male and female at every level of the education process.
• The introduction of social security for all children who are destitute and easier access for those who are deserving of this assistance.
• Attention must be paid to the child sexual offender. It is essential to develop programmes and services for these young people who are usually the victims of abuse themselves. They should whenever appropriate be diverted from the criminal justice system.
• Punishment of the child sex offender has to be more appropriate.
• Attention must be given to child victims of child sexual assault especially male victims. Research at Childline indicates that the male victim of childhood abuse and neglect is more likely to develop abusive behaviour during both child and adulthood.

2.10 Children's Institute, University of Cape Town

Professor Andy Dawes represented the University of Cape Town Children's Institute. The Institute is a multi-disciplinary research institute established within the Health Sciences Faculty of UCT. Its primary mission is to conduct research to inform policies and programmatic interventions that will enhance children's well-being and rights. The Institute focuses, in particular, on children rendered vulnerable by poverty and difficult circumstances.

2.10.1 Underlying causes of sexual abuse of children

• Poverty. The presenter argued that while poverty is not the sole cause of sexual abuse, it does amplify the factors that place children at risk. In other words, people with low self-esteem, a low sense of personal control over their lives, and a tendency to depressed moods, struggle more to cope with the strain of poverty. Fundamentally, people who are struggling to cope with the strains of poverty may feel over burdened to the point at which childcare becomes yet another strain. The presenter also distinguished between structural and personal features that raise the risk of abuse. Structural features include overcrowded housing in which there is little possibility of separation between sexualised adults or teenagers and children and poor recreational and related resources for youth. Personal features include high levels of alcohol abuse, large numbers of unemployed men and youth and the struggle of individual parents to cope with the strains of poverty.
• The attitudes and behaviour of men towards women and children. According to the presenter the common denominator in all cases of sexual abuse is that the abusers are men or boys and nine times out of ten the victims are girls. He identified the following cultural and attitudinal factors that are associated with the risk of sexual abuse, regardless of socio-economic status or ethnicity:
  • Male presumptions regarding their rights and powers in relation to women and children.
  • A cultural background that promotes male dominance and aggression towards women and children.
  • An ideology that sexualises young girls through a range of practices. These include media and local community practices such as talent contest in which young girls are lauded for imitating the sexualised performances of pop stars.

2.10.2 Recommendations

• Ensuring that children's immediate human and physical environments do not pose a risk for abuse. This involves community level development and support strategies that can be implemented in the short to medium term.
• Attempting to address some of the underlying attitudinal factors that lay the ground for child abuse in its various manifestations. This involves the much more difficult and long-term process of changing attitude and behaviour. This is likely to occur over several generations rather than in the short term.
• Strengthening social cohesion and making neighbourhoods safe.
• Supporting vulnerable families at risk of abuse.
• Developing programmes aimed at re-orienting attitudes and practices.
• Funding research into the problem and into solutions.

2.11 Children's Rights Centre

The Children's Rights Centre presented a submission supporting the reform proposals made by the South African Law Commission. The Centre mentioned the various agencies or service providers responsible for dealing with the victims and offenders of sexual offences and the procedure for disclosure, reporting, investigating and the court hearings, rules of evidence and sentencing of the sexual offender. They particularly supported the call for a multi disciplinary approach and for child sensitive one-stop centres. The Centre supported the broader definition of rape, handing of victims, treatment against HIV infection and long term monitoring of sex offenders.

2.12 CIET Africa

Dr. Neil Anderson made presentations on behalf of CIET Africa. He provided a summary of a national pilot study on sexual violence and HIV risk in school going youth aged 12-21 years.
The study dealt with various themes including:

• The frequency of sexual violence.
• Social implications of sexual violence.
• The effect of HIV/Aids on children.

  2.12.1 Findings

  • 6% of both sexes endured from forced sex.
  • Rural areas were considerably more affected than urban areas.
  • The age at which sex was forced upon children was increasingly young.
  • With a strong bias to the rural areas.
  • Rape cases are not evenly spread over the country.
  • Greater significance of simply any abuse.
  • One third of the sample group were sexually active.
  • 90% of the older youth were sexually active.
  • Touching and beating was more common than forced sex.
  • 20% of that males were forced to have sex.
  • 19% of the girls were forced to have sex.
  • 17% of the boys said that had raped before.
  • 9% of the girls agreed to raping before.

He looked at the question whether victims would become villains, and stated that on average victims were three times more likely to commit the crime. He noted that all the findings were based on self-reports and admissions, thereby making the results fairly reliable.

2.12.2 Social implications

• Culture of sexual violence important because 40% to 50% of the children thought that rape did not happen if it was someone that they knew.
• Boys said that girls meant yes when they said no. A ratio of 1: 5 girls agreed.
• Boys said that girls preferred violent guys. 1: 20 girls agreed.
• Boys said that girls asked for rape
• In general, boys said that girls had no right to say 'no' to sex with their boyfriends. Some females agreed.
• Over half of the youth said that sexual violence was caused by girls, or by both sexes.

2.12.3 Responses

• The teams were welcomed by all but one teacher.
• There was a low non-response rate by the youth.
• There was a high level of participation.
• All schools requested that they return in the future.

He stated that the results pointed to the fact that children did not have anyone to talk to about the problems. This called for guidance counsellors.

2.12.4 Additional findings

• Many youth said that they would/do not use condoms
• 20 -30% of them stated that the use of condoms would not reduce the chance of become HIV infected.
• Many believed that sex with a virgin does cure HIV.
• Many children stated that they believed that they were already infected with HIV.
• Many of the children said that they would have sex, even if in the knowledge that they were HIV positive.
• Between 10% and 15% of the youth were willing to spread HIV.

2.13 Clemenshaw, Dot

The submission highlights the following causes for the abuse of children:

• The gender and resultant power imbalances in our society;
• Uncontrolled sexual urges of men;
• Effects of migrant labour system on tribal and family life.
• Poverty and overcrowding;
• Inadequate childcare facilities for poor families;
• Judgmental sexual education for the youth and health care professionals.
• Biased reporting by the media.

2.14 Commun-'I'-Care Project 2002

This submission details a proposal made to the Gauteng Provincial Government for a multi-disciplinary approach to caring for survivors of child abuse. The programme aims to provide abused children and rape victims a complete, specialised and compassionate service under one roof.

The problems related to child abuse and rape victims identified in the submission include:

• Rape victims from poor communities are often not taken seriously, with the result that they feel threatened by the system and find it difficult to benefit from formal treatment and care structures
• When a victim is very poor, having to travel from one department to another is costly and places an extra burden on the already traumatised victim. The length of time it takes to finalise cases adds to this difficulty.
• The protective system and services are often not child-friendly, with the result that the child sees social service officials, police and the court as threatening and intimidating.
• The system of gathering evidence does not always take into account the needs of very young victims, and the evidence is then insufficient to ensure a conviction - this causes the victim's family and friends to distrust the system.
• The disappearance of case dockets and other delays in completing cases represents secondary abuse. It also causes communities to distrust the abilities of the police.
• There is no effective combined investigation and rehabilitation programme offering victims of abuse a caring and complete service.
• Communities are not informed and educated about the impact that child abuse has on the child; there is also insufficient information about how to identify early stages of child abuse.
• The media attention given to perpetrators fuels the perpetrator's sense of power over the victim. This makes rehabilitation of such a perpetrator much more difficult.

It is therefore recommended that

• Government must accept that it cannot address the problem alone, and that it has to make use of the full cooperation from communities, the private sector, churches etc.
• Society as a whole must accept co-responsibility for fighting child abuse and rape.

2.15 Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape

Ms. Jackie Gallinetti, co-ordinator of the Children's Rights Project at the University of the Western Cape, concentrated on the judicial aspects to combat sexual abuse of children.

2.15.1 Problems

• Lack of co-ordination and co-operation in dealing with sexual abuse cases.
• Problems regarding child testimony include:
  • Competency of the child to give evidence. Presiding officers often do not have the expertise to decide whether a child is competent.
  • Cautionary rules. General practice is to treat child evidence with caution especially in the case of a single witness.
  • Cross-examination of child witnesses. These guidelines are too loose and encourage aggressive practices.
  • Evaluation of child evidence. Too many people are involved in the interviewing of child victims, which lead to problems around credibility of evidence.
• Corporal punishment. Chastisement is used as a defence by parents in abuse cases.
  Media. The media has been identifying child victims contrary to provisions in the law.

2.15.2 Recommendations

• A multi-disciplinary approach should be adopted to ensure better co-ordination and co-operation between role players.
• Inter-sectoral agreements and protocols should be incorporated in legislation to increase accountability of departments.
• Presiding officers should be trained in child development in order to assist them to make decisions regarding competency. When in doubt, experts should be called in to make decisions.
• The presenter supports the SALC recommendation to abolish the cautionary rules but because of time calls for immediate amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act.
• The SALC recommendation to control the cross-examination of witnesses in sexual cases should be broadened to include all cases involving children, not only those of sexual abuse.
• It is important to ensure proper training of interviewers and a consistent approach in interviewing children. Pilot projects should be rolled out throughout the country. Pilot projects use a single interviewer and videotapes for evidence.
• Support is given to the SALC recommendation that reasonable chastisement is removed as a defence, but states that they should remove the right to corporal punishment even at home. An awareness campaign should be initiated on alternative means of disciplining children.
• The National Director of Public Prosecutions must instruct its regional offices to enforce sections of the law protecting the identity of children.
• A code of conduct in the media should be established which will protect children from identification.

2.16 Concerned Citizens Against Pornography (CCAP)

The submission raises the following concerns:

• Non-Governmental Organisations and the Government co-ordinated and facilitated a number of events which are aimed at addressing the problem of child and sexual abuse. To date the recommendations of those stakeholders have not been factored into policy and the practices of the justice system;
• The justice system is not sensitive and equipped be able to deal effectively with child sexual abuse issues;
• The rate of abuse of children's rights is high. Child abuse occurs in many instances where people make profit from it;
• The operation of "adult shops' in residential and community shopping areas creates a problem that needs to be addressed. Where communities oppose such shops in their vicinity, this is often ignored. The rights of individuals seem to be allowed to prevail at the expense of community. As a result the rate of prostitution in those vicinities increases;
• There are a number of child and sexual abuse events that occur in the name of "tradition" while it violates law. There needs to be clarity about these because children are often abused as a result.

2.17 Department of Education

2.17.1 Policies

A range of strategies and polices have been put into place by the Department, shortly after receipt of the Gender Equity Task team Report in 1997. In 2000, a module on Managing Sexual Harassment and Gender-based Violence was developed for schools. The module has been piloted in Gauteng, the Free State and Mpumalanga and will be taken to the rest of the provinces in 2002. It provides schools with the knowledge and skills needed to deal with the different facets of sexual harassment and violence.

The Department, together with the South African Police Service, completed a workbook on Signposts to Safe Schools in 2001. The workbook serves as a reference for action to be taken by schools on a range of school safety matters, including sexual abuse. All schools should receive a copy by the end of May 2002. A teacher's manual on gender equity in education has been developed to ensure that schools become friendly to girl learners.

The Department will work to ensure a common understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment through the development of a national sexual harassment policy.

2.17.2 Programmes

• The Safe Schools project was launched in 1999 in order to create safe and disciplined learning environments that celebrate innocence and value human dignity. The Project, which was launched as part of the Tirisano Implementation Plan, has focused on, amongst others:
  • Improving physical safety at schools
  • Mobilising communities to take ownership of schools
  • Developing policies on school safety
• The focus of the Life Orientation/Life Skills learning Area within Curriculum 2005 is intended to develop the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes that are essential for participating in a democratic society.
• Due to the image of the teaching profession being damaged by the recent Medical Research Council report on the Rape of Girls in South Africa, the Department has to embark on a campaign to restore confidence in the profession.
• In the next few weeks the Minster will be announcing the establishment of a special task team. This task team will work closely with various stakeholders to continuously monitor the implementation of the legal and policy instruments in the education system.
• The Department launched a programme in 2002 to empower girls to extricate themselves from difficult situations. The programme aims to create awareness in girl-children that they are not defenceless and therefore do not have to be victims.

2.17.3 Legislation

An amendment to the Employment of Educators Act of 1998 was introduced in November 2000. The amendment provides for the dismissal of a teacher who has been found guilty of engaging in a sexual relationship with a learner, with or without the consent of such learner. The South African Council for Educators Act of 2000 ensures that when a teacher is found guilty of the sexual abuse of a learner, s/he is deregistered as a teacher and may never be appointed as a teacher.

2.17.4 Inter-Departmental Initiatives

The Safe Schools Project focuses on establishing partnerships between the Department of Education and other government departments as well as civil society organisations.

The Department proposes collaborating with other Departments in order to monitor how survivors experience processes relating to the report of sexual abuse outside schools.

2.18 Department of Health

2.18.1 Problems

• Sexual abuse and rape cases often result in psychological trauma to health workers.
• Sexual abuse of children can result in:
  • Physical trauma to children.
  • Emotional trauma.
  • Physiological trauma.
  • Infections.
  • Risk of exposure to HIV and Aids.

The Department of Health faces a number of challenges including:

• Increased number of cases.
• Increased complexity of injuries requiring specialized medical skills.
• The need for prolonged and sustained psychological support to the child and the family.
• Lack of human resources and capacity in certain areas.

2.18.2 Programmes

In addressing the above, the Department has implemented the following:

• Gender Focal Points assist in sensitising health workers to the issues. This will lead to increased investigation of suspicious cases.
• Training of health workers in skills to deal with abused children.
• Forensic nurse training to increase the pool of health care workers in dealing with abuse cases.
• Gender Focal Points together with the Medical Research Council is assessing medico-legal services.
• The department participates in inter-departmental initiatives on violence.
• Family intervention and the promotion of the role of men in child care.

Attention will be given to the reduction of abuse of alcohol and other substances which impact on the sexual abuse of children.

2.19 Department of Home Affairs

2.19.1 Defining Child Pornography

Child pornography is defined as any image, real or simulated, however created, depicting a person who is or who is shown as being under the age of 18 years engaged in sexual conduct or a display of genitals which amounts to sexual conduct.

2.19.2 Effects of Child Pornography

Once a pornographic image is in the public domain, it is likely to be distributed and reproduced, regardless of the fact that the perpetrator has already been caught. These images will therefore inevitably follow the child up to and through adulthood causing immense humiliation and pain. Most children who are sexually abused suffer physical harm including various infections, genital sensitivity and soreness, as well as anal irritation. The child may also be infected with HIV/Aids. The abuse has a negative effect on a child's intellectual and emotional well-being.

2.19.3 Legislation and Conventions Dealing with Child Pornography

• Articles 19 and 34 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• The Agenda for Action adopted at the First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in 1996.
• Convention 182 adopted by the International Labour Organisation in June 1999.
• Article 9 of the Convention on Cyber-Crime published by the Council of Europe in June 2001.

2.19.4 Findings

• There is a strong link between the possession of child pornography and sexual abuse.
• The incidence of child pornography is increasing.
• There is a need for an effective, unified international response to child pornography.
• Specialist police units dealing with child pornography need to be established.
• Hotlines or triplines should be set up to allow individuals who have found what they think are illegal material on the Internet to report it.

2.19.5 Recommendations

• There is a need for proper and effective co-ordination at both government and civil society levels.
• The expertise and resources of the entire criminal justice system, including the Child Protection Unit, must be developed.
• It is vital that members of the judiciary gain a proper understanding of the new developments in the distribution of child pornography.

Their sentencing policy should also reflect society's abhorrence of the sexual abuse of children.

• Internet service providers must be brought into the fight against the use of the Internet for the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
• Public education on the dangers of unsupervised access to the Internet must be prioritised.
• Government must give effect to the plan of action of the World Congress Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children.
• The Office of the President must be provided with the necessary resources to become more involved in protecting children from child pornography.
• The setting up of the "24/7" network, which is required of all countries that have signed the Budapest Cybercrime Convention, must be given some priority.

2.20 Department of Justice and Constitutional Development

2.20.1 Policies and Legislation

The Department views the protection of the victims of sexual offences as a matter of the great importance. It has thus tasked the South African Law Commission to conduct urgent investigations with the view to improve the legal framework relevant to dealing with sexual offences. The Commission subsequently published a discussion Paper on Sexual Offences. The Discussion paper contains a draft Sexual Offences Bill that embodies some progressive recommendations on the reform of the law relating to sexual offences.

The Bill includes revised substantive law provisions such as:

• A revised definition of the offence of rape. The proposed definition extends the definition of 'sexual penetration' to include any act which causes penetration by the genital organs of one person into the anus, mouth or genital organs of another person. It will also include penetration by means of any object, including any part of the body of an animal, or part of the body of one person into the anus or genital organs of another person, in a manner, which simulates sexual intercourse.
• A view that non-disclosure by a person infected with a sexually transmissible disease prior to sexual relations with another person constitutes rape.
• Affording vulnerable witnesses, such as children, additional protection measures during a sexual offence trial.
• Provision for the prohibition of the organisation or promotion of child 'sex tours'.
• Child prostitution now constitutes what was previously referred to as Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children due to the fact that the divergent role players, for example pimps and clients, targeted in the original provisions, are all in some way involved in child prostitution.

In addition, the Department has tasked the South African Law Commission (SALC) to develop a comprehensive new law relating to children accused of crimes (Child Justice Bill). The new system emphasises individual assessment of each child and tries to find alternative ways to deal with children. The idea is to keep them within their families and communities and to protect them from the damaging effects of courts and prison as far as possible. Diversion options and programmes embody restorative justice principles, which focus on reconciliation and restitution rather than on retribution and punishment.

2.20.2 Minimum sentences

The Criminal Law Amendment Act provides for the imposition of minimum sentences in respect of certain serious offences. Section 51 of the Act states that persons convicted of certain serious offences listed in Schedule 2 of the Act must be given a mandatory minimum sentence, unless the judicial officer imposing the sentence is 'satisfied that substantial and compelling circumstances exist which justify the imposition of a lesser sentence'. Rape is one of the offences listed in this Schedule. However, an empirical study by the South African Law Commission (SALC) has shown that the severity of incidents of rape with aggravating circumstances committed after implementation of the Act has increased when compared to pre-implementation sentences. The study thus questions the effectiveness of the minimum sentence approach prescribed by the Act as a crime reduction mechanism.

The SALC has proposed a draft Sentencing Framework Bill, which seeks to address sentencing disparities in a number of ways. It lays down explicitly as a prime sentencing principle that all sentences must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence. Seriousness, in terms of the draft Bill, is to be determined by the degree of harmfulness of the offence and the degree of culpability of the offender. According to the extended legislative programme of the Department, the Bill will be introduced into Parliament as soon as circumstances permit, either during 2002 or later.

2.20.3 Repeat offenders.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act provides for a mandatory life sentence of persons convicted of two or more offences of rape, but who have not yet been sentenced in respect of such convictions. Repeat sex offenders for rape are therefore liable to a minimum sentence of life imprisonment. In 1997 the Department tightened bail provisions. Section 60 of the Criminal Procedure Act was amended to provide that where an accused person is charged with an offence listed in Schedule 6 of the Act, such a person must remain in custody. The onus is on the accused to prove to the court that exceptional circumstances exist that permit his or her release. Schedule 6 offences include rape where the victim was raped more than once or by more than one person; where the victim was raped by a person charged with having committed two or more offences of rape or by a person knowing he has Aids or HIV.

2.20.4 Provisions for rape victims to testify.

The focus areas of the SALC's discussion paper on Sexual Offences are on process and procedure. Specific recommendations are made in this discussion paper and the draft Sexual Offences Bill to make it easier for victims of sexual offences to testify in court. This includes, amongst others, the creation of a category of vulnerable witnesses, removal of cautionary rules and one-way mirrors. Section 170A of the Criminal Procedure Act makes provision for the appointment of competent persons as intermediaries. Where the court is of the opinion that a witness under the age of 18 years may suffer undue mental stress if he or she testifies, such intermediaries may be appointed to testify on behalf of the child. The insertion of this section ensures that survivors of sexual offences testify in victim-friendly environments and that secondary victimisation through participation in the criminal justice process is eliminated.

2.20.5 Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit (SOCA)

This Unit is one of the Operational Units within the National Directorate for Public Prosecutions. It was established in 1999 to focus on violent and indecent offences against women and children, as well as family violence in general. It ensures that victims and witnesses are treated fairly in court. The main priorities of SOCA are to reduce sexual offences, increase the reporting rate, improve the conviction rate, reduce secondary victimisation and reduce the time taken to finalise cases.

The Unit has established three Multi-Disciplinary Care Centres for the victims of sexual offences and domestic violence at hospitals in the Eastern and Western Cape. These Centres constitute a co-ordinated approach that brings together different service providers in a 'one-stop' model.

2.20.6 Inter-Departmental initiatives

The Department believes that curbing the escalation of violent crimes and rape against women and children requires a common approach by the relevant stakeholders. These are the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the South African Police Services (SAPS), Correctional Services, Social Development, Home Affairs, the Office on the Status of Women and the Office on the Rights of the Child in the Presidency.

The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) has prioritised crimes against women and children. This priority area consists of a number of interdepartmental programmes, supported by departmental action. These programmes are interdependent and complement each other. However, each has a distinct focus and cannot be collapsed into one programme with one approach. They include:

• Interdepartmental Management Team. This Team was established in 2000, and is led by the Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit (SOCA) of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions. It also includes the SAPS, the Department of Social Development and the Department of Health. The Team was scheduled to make a submission to Cabinet on a draft action plan for the reduction of rape and the improvement of criminal justice processes with regard to rape and sexual offences during January 2002.
• Domestic Violence Programme. The Inter-departmental domestic violence programme addresses aspects like the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of 1998, dealing with perpetrators and victims of domestic violence and intersectoral co-operation. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is responsible for leading the implementation of the Act. The Department of Social Development is responsible for leading programmes for victims and offenders.
• Victim Empowerment. This programme aims to improve services to all victims of crime. It makes provision for victims with specific needs like women and children.
  A South African Victim Charter was finalised during 2001 and an implementation plan is being developed. Agreement has been reached on a framework for the development of a set of minimum standards for victim empowerment.
• Child Protection. All provinces are implementing a Child Protection register. Guidelines on the notification of alleged child abuse cases has been finalised. Good progress has been made to rationalise national and provincial structures for child protection. A Protocol on the Management of Child Abuse and Neglect has also been completed.
• Dealing with offenders. A national Inter-Sectoral Committee on Child Justice, chaired by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development was specifically set up to gather information and make recommendations for specific interventions concerning the situation of children awaiting trial in detention. The Committee monitors children awaiting trial through the collation of statistics provided by the Departments of Correctional Services, Social Development and SAPS.
  Further steps to deal with children awaiting trial include the establishment of additional One-Stop Child Justice Centres, improved legal representation for children and providing more diversion programmes.

2.21 Department of Safety and Security

The National Commissioner of Police, Mr. J Selebi, assisted by various staff members, represented the South African Police Service (SAPS). The Department's presentation centred on the three aspects of the work of SAPS in relation to rape and sexual offences, namely:

2.21.1 Policies and Legislation

1. Prevention. SAPS' activities focus on the prevention or reduction of crimes through community and sector policing, situational crime prevention and policing the factors (such as drugs and alcohol) that contribute to crime and violence. The policy documents underlying the preventative work of SAPS is the National Crime Prevention Strategy of 1996 and the White Paper on Safety and Security.
2. Response and Investigation. The SAPS reaction to crimes like rape and sexual offences includes investigation and gathering evidence for use in prosecution. The policy documents that relate to the investigation of rape and sexual offences cases are:
   • National Instruction 22/1998: Sexual Offences. This document deals with support to victims at crucial aspects of the investigation.
   • Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) policy document.
     In addition, members of SAPS are providing input and comments into the following legislative processes:
   • The Sexual Offences Bill (SA Law Commission Project 107).
   • The Child Care Act (SA Law Commission Project 110).
   • The proposed amendment to the Films and Publications Act, 1996
   • The Child Justice Bill, 2001
3. Support to victims and witnesses. The SAPS considers the need to adopt a victim-centred approach in the criminal justice process as crucial. It thus provides programmes to improve services to victims and support victims through the criminal justice process. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is currently finalising a Victims' Charter for South Africa. Following from the Victims' Charter, the SAPS is developing a Victim Empowerment Policy and National Instruction. This process is in its final consultative state and will be concluded in 2002.

2.21.2 Programmes

2.21.2.1 Internal Programmes

The SAPS acknowledges the fact that sexism and gender inequality impact negatively on human rights. It has thus committed itself to vigorously fight to eliminate unfair discrimination and to uproot sexual harassment. To this end, it has initiated various programmes and measures. These include:

• Counselling services. This programme is aimed at addressing substance abuse and domestic and marital problems for members and their immediate family members.
• Presentation of pro-active programmes. These include programmes on managing stress effectively, life skills and the facilitation of the development of ethical behaviour.
• Awareness Programmes. These include programmes on suicide prevention, HIV/Aids awareness and prevention and sexual harassment.
• Partnerships. The Department has entered into partnership with several initiatives and institutions. These include the Office on the Status of Women, the Commission on Gender Equality and Non-Governmental Organisations such as NICRO, Women Against Abuse (WAWA) and People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA).

The Department listed various problems that hamper the effective handling of sexual offence cases. These include a guilt feeling of the victim who thus does not go for support, withholding of progress reports from the victim, blackmailing of victims and the attitude of management.

2.21.2.2 External Programmes

1. Prevention

• Crime trend analysis. Crime trends at local level are analysed to inform prevention and crime combating operations.
• Crime prevention projects with Community Police Forums, other community organizations, NGOs and other departments. These programmes target crimes such as rape and sexual offences. Many of them focus on public education and mobilizing communities to report crimes and fulfil their responsibilities as witnesses to crime.
• Crime prevention projects at police stations. During 2001, 20 police stations were prioritised for crime prevention projects to address crimes against women and children. These include crimes such as rape, sexual offences, child abuse and domestic violence. For 2002, 128 where 50% of rape cases are reported, have been prioritised for this purpose.

  The Department emphasised the need to mobilize other partners from all government departments and civil society.

2. Response and investigation

• Involvement in multi-disciplinary programmes aimed at crimes against children. These include the Department's involvement in the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS). The Department also participate in various International, national, provincial and local committees and forums working on crimes against children.
• Training courses. The Department offers various training courses for members with regard to offences against children. These include a basic detective course, a sexual offences investigations course, and a FCS Investigators course. During 2002, the Department will also introduce a new course on sign language, which is specifically aimed at assisting people who are unable to voice their concerns or complaints.

Specialised Child Protection Units

As a response to the letter of the Chairperson of the Task Group on Sexual Abuse of Children, the following table gives details on the units located in different provinces. These special units are well equipped with personnel.

Convictions and sentences

In the year 2000, 1 551 convictions were made by the Child Protection Units. In the year 2001, 2112 convictions were made. However in 2001only 369 out of 1551 cases were finalized while 378 out of 2112 cases were finalised. The sentences imposed on offenders include fines and imprisonment.

3. Support to victims and witnesses
• SAPS Victim Empowerment Programme. This programme is aimed at, amongst others:
  • Training SAPS members in victim empowerment.
  • Improving facilities for victims at police stations.
  • Involving the community in practical victim support initiatives.
  • Improving feedback to victims.
• Implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of 1998. The SAPS is one of the departments responsible for the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. The Act provides the SAPS with various ways to intervene in domestic violence incidents that are reported. These include:
  • Arrest and protection during the incident.
  • Victim support and referral for further support and counselling.
  • Discretion to arrest where there is imminent harm.

  The Act also requires the SAPS to record all incidents of domestic violence in a register, and report to Parliament every six months on complaints against police officers for non-compliance with the National Instruction on Domestic Violence.

  • Training. Starting in 2002, the basic training for all members include victim empowerment training. During 2001 6 139 members were trained. 30 849 members were trained since the start of the Victim Empowerment Programme.

2.21.3 Inter-Departmental initiatives

The Department stressed the crucial importance of adopting an integrated and multi-sectoral approach to fighting the scourge of rape and sexual violence. The main objectives of such an approach are prevention and co-operation. As such, it is one of the role players in various programmes with other government departments, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations. Inter-departmental initiatives in which the Department participates include:

• The Anti-rape strategy.
• The Domestic Violence Programme.
• The Victim Empowerment Programme.
• The Child Abuse and Neglect Programme.
• The Child Justice Programme.
• The Women Empowerment Programme.

The Department is also represented on the Inter-Departmental Management Team (IDMT) for rape and sexual offences, lead by the Directorate for Sexual Offences and Community Affairs in the National Prosecuting Authority. The IDMT has developed an information-based approach to develop a strategy to address rape and sexual offences.

The Department has management processes in place for each programme to ensure that the work is done in an integrated and inclusive manner.

2.22 Department of Social Development

2.22.1 Introduction

The Department of Social Development stated that the Parliamentary hearings were significant in that they provided an opportunity to find solutions to child abuse and reflected a greater willingness to have the issue of sexual abuse discussed more openly.

2.22.2 Policies

The Department has based its policies on the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The Department's policies on child abuse are not confined to sexual abuse, but also include neglect and exploitation. Protocols for the management of child abuse cases have been developed in all Provinces. The protocols make provision for a multi-disciplinary and integrated service to child victims and their families. A similar protocol has been developed for the national departments and is awaiting final comments from the relevant Ministers. The NCCAN has developed a draft strategy. While the principles and intentions of the strategy are agreed upon, a Programme of Action with specific objectives, targets and time frames must support it.

2.22.3 Programmes

There are a range of services provided by the Department, including trauma counselling, clinical assessment, interim placement of children if required and support in dealing with investigative authorities.

• The Department has initiated a 24-hour service pilot programme providing for social workers to be on call to assist police officers with cases of abuse. The service is fully operational in the Western Cape and the Free State and in one area each in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.
• A Victim Empowerment Programme, co-ordinated by the Department, has established 100 projects, many of which are one-stop or 24-hour services for women.
• Training has been provided to a range of professionals who work with abused children.
• Life skills programmes for children form part of the workload of social workers in the Provincial Departments.
• Provincial Departments participate in social crime prevention programmes such as the Neighbourhood Response Programme (NRP) in the Western Cape and Safe Houses Programmes (SHP). The NRP assists community members to identify and report child abuse cases. The SHP involves the training of safe house parents.
• Community awareness campaigns are conducted during Child Protection Week in May and Social Development Month in October.
• A Directory of Children's Services has been produced with the assistance of Save the Children Fund, together with a Directory of Services to Victims.

2.22.4 Legislation

The Child Protection Register has been established in all provinces in terms of section 42 of the Child Care Act. The purpose of the register is to monitor each reported case on sexual abuse. The register operates on a manual system. However, the system will be computerised by November 2002. The Inter-Departmental Committee has identified the need to strengthen the legislative framework and harmonise all laws. The Child Care Act is widely regarded as being inadequate and therefore needs to be replaced by new comprehensive childcare legislation. Section 4 of the Prevention of Family Violence Act of 1993 needs to be repealed since it has created confusion with respect to reporting cases of sexual abuse.

2.22.5 Inter-Departmental Initiatives

• Social workers from the Department work closely with officers of the Child Protection Unit (CPU) in certain provinces.
• The NCCAN was established as a sub-committee of the National Plan of Action for Children in South Africa (NPA). The NCCAN comprises the main government departments involved in child abuse, provincial representatives as well as representatives of the non-governmental sector.
• Provincial Child Protection Committees exist in all Provinces.
• Each Provincial Department of Social Development has an official appointed as the Provincial Child Protection Co-ordinator.
• The Inter-Departmental Committee has identified the following priorities for action:
  • Strengthening the legislative framework and harmonising all laws.
  • Improving the investigation of cases of abuse.
  • More attention to prevention.
  • Improving co-ordination of services provided by the various departments and the NGO sector.
  • Responding to children with special needs.
  • Mobilising partnerships with communities.
  • Building institutional capacity at all levels.
  • Strengthening governance within the child protection system.
  • Enhancing information, research, monitoring and evaluation.

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