Johannesburg | Thursday
The Department of Justice on Wednesday rejected allegations by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that it had failed in its efforts to combat child abuse.
The department was responding to a report released by the commission on Tuesday in which it said that almost one third of South African children had been subjected to sexual abuse by the age of 18.
The SAHRC report levelled criticism at police, doctors and prosecutors, among others, for lack of professionalism and skills, and went on to recommend that the Justice Department adopt a more child friendly approach when handling child sexual abuse cases, and to ensure that the best interests of the child were taken into account at all times during prosecution.
Justice department representative Paul Setsetse said in a statement: ”Contrary to what is reflected by the commission in its report, a lot has been done to make the system user friendly to victims.”
He said the government had given high priority to improving the criminal justice system’s response to crimes against women and children.
Some of the initiatives outlined by Setsetse were: the creation of specialised family violence, child abuse and sexual assault units, formally known as Child Protection Units; a gender neutral definition of rape which will expand to include all forms of penetration, and the creation of a new crime category of child prostitution.
Setsetse said the department also established the Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit in October 1999, which had already made a ”valuable contribution” to the fight against sexual offences.
The unit among other things conducts training seminars in nine provinces with prosecutors, magistrates, police and doctors.
It has also established 20 sexual offences courts in the country and ensures that only prosecutors that have specific expertise and interest in the field of sexual offences handle the cases, he said.
The unit has also established three rape care centres in various parts of the country.
Setsetse said an Inter-Departmental Management Team was formed in March 2000, consisting of members of the departments of Safety and Security and Health.
Part of the team’s objective is to analyse three sites in Cape Town, Soweto and the East Rand to obtain an overview of the management of rape cases by the criminal justice system.
He said the unit had also set up a team to identify and prosecute infant rape. – Sapa