S.Africa seeks to clamp down on sexual offences
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South Africa will introduce a new law to broaden the legal definition of rape in a bid to clamp down on widespread sexual offences President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday were a blight on 12 years of democratic gains.
The latest draft of the law comes as South Africa marked the 50th anniversary of a historic anti-apartheid protest by thousands of women, held up as a pivotal moment in the democracy and women’s liberation movements.
The year’s event has put the spotlight on domestic violence and rape in a country that has one of the world’s highest instances of sexual violence.
According to the latest police data, more than 55,000 cases of rape were reported in 2004. These statistics are especially disturbing given that one in nine South Africans is infected by HIV/AIDS, analysts say.
“All of us know very well that we can put all the measures in place for the advancement of women; we can achieve impressive targets in ensuring that women occupy, as they should, any position of authority in the public and private sectors,” Mbeki told a rally to mark “Women’s Day” public holiday in Pretoria.
“Yet, as long as we do not stop women abuse, domestic violence, rape of children, young and old women, we should know that we are still far from achieving the critical goal of emancipation of women,” Mbeki added to applause.
Justice Ministry officials say some of the most sex crimes often go unpunished or are dealt lighter sentences because they are not covered under existing laws.
“A reason that a lot of people subjected to sexual violence actually fall through the cracks is that current legislation doesn’t cover them,” Zolile Nqayi, a Justice Ministry spokesman, told Reuters.
The draft law is being considered by parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice, one of the first steps in making it law.
In its current form, it expands the definition of rape to include sodomy and penetration by objects other than a penis.
The bill also makes provision for coercion to rape—making it easier, for instance, to dish out heavier sentences to gang leaders who order their followers to rape.
South Africa was shocked in 2003 when a local AIDS activist was gang-raped and then killed by her attackers after she revealed that she was HIV-positive.
Nqayi said the new law would inflate already alarming rape statistics but would help authorities by giving them a clearer picture of the true extent of sexual offences in South Africa.
“I think it (the statistics) will be closer to reality. It will help us with a strategy to deal with the problem,” Nqayi said.
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