III.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Human Rights Watch makes the following recommendations
to the South African government relating to the education system and its
response to sexual violence against girls. In addition to these specific
recommendations, the recommendations included in two prior reports on
violence against women are of further relevance: the recommendations made
in Violence Against Women in South Africa: The State Response to Domestic
Violence and Rape (1995), and South Africa: Violence Against
Women and the Medico-Legal System (1997) are included in the appendix
to this report.2
Some of the measures proposed in prior recommendations as well
as those set out below have already been adopted or are being considered
by the national and some provincial governments; others have received
less attention.
It is of primary importance that the National
Department of Education provide leadership and mobilize commitment for
combating sexual violence in schools at every level in the education system.
To the Government
of South Africa:
To ensure a more effective response to
sexual violence against girls in schools, the national Department of Education
should:
- Adopt a National Plan of Action on Sexual Violence
and Harassment in Schools
A plan of action should be developed in wide
consultation with all stakeholders, including representatives of pupils,
teachers, principals, parents, social workers, government officials responsible
for gender issues, NGOs offering support and advocacy services to victims,
and others. It should include at a minimum, where not already in place:
- Guidelines to schools detailing the appropriate
response to allegations by pupils of rape, sexual assault, or harassment,
whether by teachers or fellow pupils, including sections relating to the creation
of accessible school procedures by which pupils can make confidential complaints,
the prompt and effective investigation of such complaints, prompt and appropriate
disciplinary action including due process protections for the persons alleged
to have perpetrated the offense, referral to the criminal justice system,
the report of sexual misconduct cases to the provincial department of education,
and support services;
- Appropriate procedures governing the consequences
for teachers or pupils who have been convicted on criminal charges of sexual
violence, or who have been found after an administrative hearing procedure
complying with due process protections to have engaged in sexual misconduct;
- A provision for funding of counseling and medical
services for victims of sexual violence;
- A code of conduct for teachers and pupils that
expressly prohibits sexual violence, harassment, and other sexual misconduct
in schools. The code of conduct should be distributed to all schools and its
contents widely publicized among those in the education system. Teachers should
be obliged to follow the code of conduct as part of their employment contract;
- A provision for compulsory education and training
for pupils, teachers, and principals on issues related to sexual violence
and harassment and gender discrimination, including methods for the early
identification of, and intervention to prevent, abusive behavior;
- The formal appointment in every provincial
education department of a director responsible for implementing policy on
gender-based violence in schools, with appropriate authority and a sufficient
budget;
- Mechanisms to hold schools accountable for
failure to adequately respond to allegations of sexual violence through school-based
administrative measures or for failure to cooperate with investigations conducted
by the criminal justice system.
In addition, the following steps should
be considered:
Protection
from Perpetrators of Abuse
- Laws that make failure to report child abuse
to relevant authorities a criminal offense should be widely publicized and
enforced, and all school employees should be educated about their obligations
to report child abuse to the relevant authorities.
- Laws (including the amendments to the 1998
Employment of Educators Act introduced in 2000) that require dismissal of
educators found guilty of serious misconduct including committing an act of
sexual assault against a student, having a sexual relationship with a student
of the school where he or she is employed, and seriously assaulting a student
with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm, should be widely publicized
among school principals and enforced.
- Teachers facing allegations of sexual misconduct
should at a minimum be separated during classroom time from the complaining
pupils. Teachers should receive notice of allegations against them as well
as an opportunity to be heard by disciplinary structures. Teachers facing
allegations of rape or sexual assault should be suspended with pay, the allegations
reported to the police, and the suspension continued pending police investigation
and trial, or the outcome of a disciplinary hearing if the case does not proceed
to trial.
- Individuals who have been convicted of sexual
assault or rape should not be permitted to teach anywhere in the South African
school system. Before the employment of any teacher, schools should review
teachers' records for incidents of sexual abuse, including inquiring with
prior employers and police. School principals should be required to report
confirmed incidents of sexual misconduct by teachers to provincial departments
of education, which information should be maintained in a confidential database
that should be checked prior to a school hiring any teacher.
- Pupils facing allegations of sexual assault
or rape should receive guidance and counseling and should face disciplinary
action if the allegations are sustained. Disciplinary action should have rehabilitation
as a central aim and should ensure that children are dealt with in a manner
that is appropriate to their well-being, proportionate both to their circumstances
and the offense, and consistent with their right to education. Appropriate
disciplinary action may take a variety of forms, including reprimand and warning,
supervision within the school, transfer to a different classroom, and the
use of home or alternative schooling. Suspension or expulsion should be a
measure of last resort when another pupil is in serious physical danger.
- In accordance with section 9 of the 1996 South
African Schools Act, provincial departments of education should issue notices
in the provincial government gazettes specifying the behavior by pupils which
may constitute serious misconduct justifying expulsion, and the disciplinary
procedures to be followed in such cases. The national Department of Education
should work with provincial departments to develop these guidelines on a uniform
basis, ensure that sexual abuse is addressed within them, and disseminate
them widely among school principals and other relevant stakeholders.
- Because girls often do not have the same access
to interdicts or formal orders of protection as women, the creation of a school-based
interdict or restraining order to be enforced on school grounds by school
employees to protect the victim's safety should be considered.
Abuse Prevention
- School governing bodies should be required
to address the problem of sexual violence and its prevention as a regular
agenda item, and special meetings should be held to address specific cases.
Every governing body should designate a member, preferably female, whom pupils,
parents, or teachers concerned about sexual abuse can approach for assistance
and who is responsible for ensuring that policies on sexual abuse are followed.
Training should be made available to these individuals by provincial departments
of education.
- Schools should foster collaboration with relevant
NGOs working on rape, sexual assault, child abuse, or domestic violence issues,
for the purposes of providing training, counseling, and advocacy services.
Victim Support
and Protection
- Provincial departments of education and health
should take steps to ensure that the health care and psychological needs of
victims of sexual assault are met and that victims receive appropriate treatment
for associated injuries, infections, and related trauma. This should include
the provision to victims of medical assistance consistent with the prevailing
best practice on post Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency
Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) exposure prophylaxis and to all pupils and teachers of
current, culturally appropriate, and clear information on HIV/AIDS.
- Provincial departments of education should
take steps to prevent the practice of virginity testing in schools and should
develop educational materials to address the issues surrounding this practice.
Children
and the Justice System
Children in the justice system are entitled
to a fair hearing and the equal protection of the law, in accordance with
international standards. If accused of infringing the law, children have
the right to treatment in a manner consistent with the promotion of their
sense of dignity and worth, taking into account their age and the desirability
of promoting their reintegration into society.
- In accordance with current government efforts
to improve the justice system and provide support to victims, children required
to give evidence in court should receive pre-trial legal counseling and be
adequately prepared for trial, and have access to intermediaries who can translate
court proceedings into "child-friendly language," and to facilities
to enable them to give testimony outside the presence of the accused.
- Pupils should be informed of their rights within
the justice system. The national and provincial education departments should
develop mechanisms for coordination with and improved access to schools by
officials of the criminal justice system, including police, prosecutors, or
social workers, and for officials who face problems in carrying out their
work in schools to have recourse to authorities within the education department
to ensure a school's cooperation.
Investigation
and Documentation of Abuse
- In order to inform the development of effective
responses to sexual violence in schools, steps should be taken to improve
the collection of data concerning crimes of violence against pupils, whether
by schools, provincial education departments, the police, or other appropriate
bodies such as Stats SA, the government statistical service.
To the South
African Council of Educators and the Teachers' Unions of South Africa:
To further efforts to end sexual violence
against pupils in schools, teachers' organization should:
- Deny membership to convicted sex offenders;
- Cooperate with provincial departments of education
to devise an awareness and advocacy campaign to combat sexual violence and
harassment in schools in line with the National Plan of Action;
- Revoke the licenses of teachers found guilty
by an administrative or criminal tribunal of serious misconduct, including
the rape, sexual assault, or physical abuse of a student.
To Teachers'
Training Colleges:
To prevent sexual violence and better
equip teachers to respond to the problem of gender violence in schools,
teachers' training colleges should:
- Increase instruction of future teachers on
gender equity, including lessons on the harms of sexual violence and harassment
in the school environment as a discriminatory impediment to education, and
develop ways to intervene to stop sexual harassment before it escalates to
violence;
- Develop in-service training programs for experienced
teachers on the prevention of, and response to, sexual violence and harassment
in their schools. Offer these workshops throughout the country. Appoint a
faculty member within each teacher training college to coordinate training
and research efforts;
- Educate teachers on their responsibilities
under any code of conduct that is developed.
To the International
Community:
To ensure high standards of response to
sexual violence against girls in schools the international community should:
- Provide technical support and funding for programs
to train South African teachers in gender equity and strategies for preventing
sexual violence and harassment in the school environment. Support programs
that educate teachers, parents, and society at large about the harm of sexual
violence and harassment to girl children and their education;
- Mobilize strong national and international
support for school-based human rights education programs to teach students
about their human rights, including the right to be free from violence on
grounds of gender, and the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights
of the Child;
- Fund governmental and nongovernmental organizations
providing direct medical, counseling, and support services to women and children
who have been victims of violence and sexual assault in South Africa;
- Fund initiatives to provide clear, current,
accessible, and culturally appropriate information on HIV/AIDS transmission
and the basics of AIDS as a disease in the curriculum of primary and secondary
schools, in teacher training, and in the training of school administrators;
- Fund efforts to provide medical assistance
consistent with the prevailing post HIV/AIDS exposure prophylaxis to decrease
the likelihood of contracting the virus for victims of sexual violence;
- Encourage South Africa and other nations that
pledged at the Dakar World Education for All Forum to develop or strengthen
National Education for All Action Plans to detail strategies for addressing
school-based gender violence in their National Action Plans;
- The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child
should inquire into sexual violence and harassment in schools and encourage
countries to make efforts to address school-based gender violence. The U.N.
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education should investigate the problem
of gender-based violence in schools and its impact on children and the right
to education. U.N. agencies, including UNICEF and UNESCO, should support programs
that teach educators and students about gender equality, the rights of the
child, and human rights;
2
The general recommendations set forth in prior Human Rights Watch
reports on violence against women in South Africa are included in Appendix
A.