Joan Van Niekerk’s presentation highlighted recent press coverage on several rapes of both children and older persons, which has engendered a sense of shock and horror, both nationally and internationally.  Although rape and sexual abuse levels in South Africa have long been among the highest in the world of any country not at war, recent reports have detailed unbelievably cruel and savage acts of sexual and physical torture. As has happened in the past, when the press calls attention to the high levels of sexual assault, there is a flurry of reactive comment and action to deal with the crisis.  Sadly, sustained programmes and responses, based on consultation, careful planning and evidence-based programme development remain lacking.  Dealing with rape and sexual abuse is a key HIV infection prevention strategy – both in terms of our national Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV, AIDS, STIs and TB, as well as our commitment to the UN declaration on AIDS.

1. Preventing Sexual Violence – Effective Action
or Knee Jerk Reaction
Childline South Africa

2. Recent events
• The recent press coverage on several rapes of
both children and the elderly has engendered
a sense of shock and horror nationally – and
internationally.
• Although rape and sexual abuse levels in
South Africa has long been among the highest
in the world of any country not at war, recent
reports have detailed unbelievably cruel and
savage acts of sexual and physical torture.

3. Linking Sexual Assault with HIV
infection….
• Victims are high risk of infection (stating the
obvious)
• Sexual offenders are
- Likely to have a general pattern of sexual
irresponsibility
- Unlikely to use protection!
Children are particularly vulnerable to
- Greater injury
- Greater risk of infection.

4. • As has happened in the past when the press
calls attention to the high levels of sexual
assault, there is a flurry of reactive comment
and action to deal with the crisis.
• However sustained programmes and
responses, based on consultation and careful
planning, and evidence based programme
development have been - and remain sadly
lacking.

5. • Many of the knee-jerk reactionary
programmes have been well-intentioned and
driven by the urgency of the problem and the
emotion of the moment –
• and indeed strong emotional responses to the
report of rapes and assaults such as that
perpetrated on Anene Booysens, and several
other children, and on the elderly, are
appropriate.

6. Some of the proposed strategies
• The 365 day plan of action – this does have
possibilities if
- it is widely consulted,
- the proposed strategies have an evidence
base,
- There is good solid monitoring and evaluation
- Scaling up of programmes that have value.

7. Some of the proposed/existing
strategies
• Teaching martial arts and self defence
(Violence begets violence!)
• Whistles around the neck (Something to
strangle your victims with?)
• Teaching children to say “no” (Universal
culture of respect and obediance, as well as
power differentials – physical, psychological
and the gate-keeping of needed or wanted
resources)

8. Some of the existing strategies
• 16 days of activism – continues each year without any
really meaningful cost/benefit analysis and is often
misused by politicians for political posturing
• Empowerment of the girl child.
• Life sentences for rapists have not succeeded in
reducing rape and sexual assault. The poor functioning
of our police and justice services in responding to rape
and sexual assault contribute to the fact that few
offenders are convicted and sentenced, and therefore
the anticipation of possible negative outcomes of
sexual behaviour simply does not occur for many
offenders.

9. Some of the existing strategies
• The Sexual Offender Register: Worldwide offender
registers do not appear to have contributed
significantly to reductions in sexual crimes.
(Washington State Institute for Public Policy 2009).
South Africa, despite the discouraging research on
offender registers, has three. The sad (and
irresponsible wastage of resources should be
rationalised and the money rather spent on evidence
based strategies and programmes.
• Sadly we have 2 specific “violence prevention” registers
in this country – none of which are functioning
appropriately

10. An existing strategy - the National
Strategic Plan on HIV, STI’s and TB
• The plan has as strategic objective 4 – ensure
protection of human rights and improving access to
justice – the primary objective being to address issues
of stigma, discrimination, human rights violations and
gender inequality.
• The plan details a number of actions under this
strategy such as
- ensuring that violations of human rights do not occur
as the point of service delivery
- Building capacity within public institutions and civil
society to increase access to justice and redress

11. In truth….
• The Human Rights and Justice Task Team of
SANAC has met ONCE in the past two years.
• The meeting was attended by the Deputy
Minister of Justice and Constitutional
Development who made certain commitments.
• Problems were identified – only!
• The meeting started late.
• There has been no follow up for the past 6
months.

12. Responses that are needed.
• Effective prevention of rape and sexual abuse
needs to be based on more than emotion –
we need to know and understand the factors
that create and drive this violent behaviour
and plan and implement effective preventive
programmes that do more than simply
respond to rape and sexual assault once it has
occurred but prevent it occurring or re-
occurring.

13. What is known about the factors that
cause and drive sexually violent behaviour?
• There is no single causal factor – but rather a
number of events and processes shape and
sustain sexual violence (Prentky 2002, Jewkes
2006, Dhabicharan 2004)
• The behaviour usually has its genesis in
childhood experiences, such as exposure to
domestic violence, abuse, emotional
deprivation, and distorted belief systems

14. It therefore follows that
effective prevention strategies and programmes
must
- address a multiplicity of factors,
- evidence based
- be multi-tiered and include primary, secondary
and tertiary prevention programmes.

15. Primary Prevention
• Primary prevention addresses those factors associated
with root cause. South African parents, both mothers
and fathers need to look at how they raise their
children – particularly boy children, and how they
manage the relationships within the family. The
exposure of children to domestic violence is strongly
associated with sexual offending behaviour, as is
emotional deprivation and disciplinary practices that
involve any form of physical, verbal or emotional
violence.

16. Primary prevention – raising boys
• We need to raise boys
- To recognise that their (usually) superior physical
power should be used to protect and not exploit,
- To recognise that masculinity does not have to do with
sexual prowess, male entitlement to sexual pleasure,
and exploitive power over women and girls.
- To be aware of their emotions and how these drive
behaviour,
- and teach them how to manage strong emotion and
forces such as sexual arousal and need for expression.

17. Raising boys
• Basically – we need to raise boys to be good
men – and both parents share this
responsibility. Mothers who have different
rules for behaviour for differently gendered
children, and who privilege their male
offspring are as responsible for the negative
outcomes of this, as are fathers who neglect
the responsibility of being positive, protective
and appropriate male role models.

18. Secondary prevention
• involves appropriate and remedial responses to
inappropriate behaviour, such as bullying and
inappropriate sexual behaviour – as soon as
possible after it comes to the attention of parents
or authority figures. The Child Justice Act
recognises the need for early intervention for
children in conflict with the law, and establishes
the possibility of participation in diversion
programmes for children and youth who present
with behaviour that is violent or exploitive.

19. Secondary prevention
• Involves reaching out to victims of child sexual
abuse, particularly boys.
• Research indicates that boys and men are
more prone to externalising the impact of
abuse and violence and thus developing
patterns of physical and sexual violence
themselves.

20. Tertiary prevention
• rehabilitation programmes for those who have
committed acts of sexual violence.
Rehabilitation programmes for sexual
offenders are becoming more widely
established as the evidence base for sex
offence specific programmes based on
cognitive behavioural theory and practice is
well established.
• imprisonment

21. So moving forward – some ideas to
debate
• Stop the knee-jerk reaction to publicised and
horrific rapes and killings;
- Lets have a carefully thought through plan that
deals with every level of prevention and
management and is based on evidence and/or has
at its core careful monitoring and evaluation so that
we continue to add to the evidence base.
- So we must plan logically – using expert advice,
quality research, drawing on both local and
international knowledge;

22. Moving forward…..
• Investing in evidence based strategies at all
levels of prevention may include
- investment in parenting programmes that
encourage non-violent discipline and
proscribe corporal punishment,
- investment in programmes that target young
and older men and support positive, non-
violent constructs of masculinity, responsible
and protective partnerships and parenting;

23. Moving forward…
• Stop the blame game – yes – the history of
this country has been a significant driver of
many of our present challenges – but dwelling
on this takes us nowhere – we need to
address the issues and take responsibility for
initiating and maintaining change;
• Stop the blame game – yes – the history of
this country has been a significant driver of
many of our present challenges – but dwelling
on this takes us nowhere – we need to
address the issues and take responsibility for
initiating and maintaining change;

24. Moving forward……
• Accept that there is no magic bullet or short
term total solution; if we are serious about
addressing prevention of rape effectively we
are in for the “long haul”;
• the knee jerk responses waste time and
resources.

25. Moving forward……..
• When looking at monitoring and evaluating
strategies and programmes with the
recognition that some investments will require
long term implementation before results are
apparent and thus requiring long term
monitoring and evaluation;

26. Moving forward…….
• Further law reform – sadly the Criminal Law
(Sexual Offences and Related Matters)
Amendment Act did not take on board many
of the recommendations of the SA Law
Reform Project Committee on Sexual
Offences. Their final report should be re-
visited and further amendments made to
improve prevention and management of rape
and other sexual offences; (Comment on what
was removed)

27. Moving forward……
• Implement the law: train, retrain, mentor,
supervise and hold accountable firstly police
services who provide the entrance into the
Criminal Justice System, and secondly justice
personnel who have responsibilities in
managing and responding to sexual offences;

28. Moving Forward……
• Stop playing with statistics – let us have some honest
accounting for the sexual offences courts and Thuthuzela
Centres.
• Yes – there may be a 60 to 80% success rate on matters
taken to trial – but if in a single month 5 to 6 matters are
taken to trial, but over 200 cases are withdrawn by the
same court, often with no notice to the victim, what has
this court actually achieved?
• 40% of all sexual offences are against children – if many of
these withdrawals involve child victims, and about 80% of
child victims are sexually abused by someone in their family
or community, there is an urgent need to ensure that safety
plans are being made to ensure that children are not re-
victimised;

29. Moving forward…..
• Give children back their childhood, rather than
hold them responsible for protecting
themselves, accepting that children have
limited ability to do this. Children are entitled
to safety and protection in every sphere of
their life.
• Adults must take responsibility for keeping
children safe.

30. In closing – using the words of Jonathan
Jansen from “We need to talk”
• “The question that must be asked, therefore, is
this: how did we come to be such violent people?
Of course our country was born out of conquest
and violence centuries back. The apartheid
government tortured and killed people making
violence part of our societal culture – violence
became institutionalised in our society…….
• But we are not victims of our past….We can
change this behaviour, difficult as it may be.

31. THANK YOU
joanvn@childlinesa.org.za