Victims of abuse, harassment and rape are too often confronted with obtuse bureaucrats behind the counter. (Media24/Lulama Zenzile)
The reporting of sexual violence has been one of the ugliest blights of our democracy. Research throughout the years has revealed disturbing accounts of women regularly shunned at police stations.
Victims of abuse, harassment and rape are too often confronted with obtuse bureaucrats behind the counter. These officers are either too lazy to file the necessary paperwork or refuse to take a woman’s account seriously. The more malicious among them will flip the accusation — the archaic “you shouldn’t have been wearing that” refrain.
While sexual crimes predominantly affect women and children, anecdotes of men who have faced ridicule for reporting abuse are equally harrowing.
The result is a society hobbled by mistrust and trepidation of the system’s processes. A report by the Human Sciences Research Council in November estimated that only one in five women who endure sexual abuse report it to the authorities. That number is chilling. Abuse begets further violence, contributing to the country’s appalling femicide rates.
Over the years, we have dedicated more column inches to this affliction than almost any other issue. It is thus with great interest that we watched the police service’s briefing to parliament’s portfolio committee on police this week. A plan was put forward that contained some compelling suggestions. These included changes to the regulatory framework, increased investigative capacity and structural improvements to police stations intended to encourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward.
The obvious point is that it will take more than a PowerPoint presentation to convince a beleaguered South African that the plan will be rolled out timeously and have a measurable effect. Let alone a journalist. But we are happy to applaud any sincere effort that proposes new, creative solutions.
Apathy in government has been an exacerbating factor in this crisis. For too long, officials have been drunk on a dangerous cocktail of lethargy and cognitive dissonance. It’s a low bar, but acknowledging the problem and the need to do things differently is a hurdle that we have not always been able to take for granted.
On the same note, our writer Umamah Bakharia has done some excellent work reporting on the sex offender register that is in limbo, awaiting amendments to legislation. We don’t have all the answers on the best approach to the situation, but it is imperative that as a society we introduce frameworks that are universally considered fair.
A failure to do so inflames vigilantim; people distrustful of authorities take matters into their own hands.
Regrettably, it’s taken 30 years of democracy, but these are the conversations we desperately need to be having.