few commemorates

By Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW)

April 2005: Johannesburg - The Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) is celebrating the 3rd year of its campaign on hate crimes against black lesbian women. The campaign was initiated in 2002 and it is known as the Rose Has Thorns. Since 2002, FEW has been doing immense investigations and research on the experiences of black lesbian women in townships. The outcome of this process is that most black lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are subjected to rape, assault, hate, and are expelled from their homes/schools/churches/clubs due to their sexual orientation.

The most common crimes that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience are rape and assault. The commonality of the crime is often prejudice and hate against these women because of their sexual orientation. Most perpetrators commit these crimes to prove that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are not men. The basis for the perpetrator’s behaviour is often centered around patriarchy and heterosexist paradigm which uphold that women and men have to behave in certain ways. Women are expected to wear dresses, walk and talk in certain ways, present themselves as emotional beings who have no intellect amongst other things. It remains a challenge for society to comprehend the behaviour of women who do not conform to this order.

For this reason, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are constantly raped and assaulted in their communities. There are several cases of this nature that were reported to the police in the past three years. There is nothing substantial that has happened to respond to these crimes sufficiently. On the contrary, survivors of these crimes experience secondary victimisation from the police, they find themselves often having to explain their sexual orientation than to have their cases attended to. The experience is similar in clinics when survivors go for PEP (post exposure prophylaxis). This is a treatment that needs to be given to rape survivors. The same thing happens in court, survivors are often exposed to secondary victimisation.

The inadequacy of the current sexual offences legislation makes the situation even more unbearable for survivors of hate crimes. In the current Sexual Offences Act, forced penetration by a bottle or an object carries a lesser penalty than forced penetration by a penis. Forced penile penetration is considered rape and any other form of forced penetration is charged as assault. This is problematic. There are other critical areas in the current Sexual Offences Bill which relate to experiences of sexual offence survivors that needs to be addressed by the Minister of Justice urgently before the Bill becomes Law.

FEW stands in solidarity with The NATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON THE SEXUAL OFFENCES BILL which consists of a number of organisations working with adult and child victims of sexual assault in South Africa. The Working Group has convened in order to

Lobby and advocate for changes to the draft Bill that will provide for increased protection and a just outcome for victims of sexual assault without compromising the constitutional rights of alleged and convicted sexual offenders.
Lobby and advocate for the more rapid progress of the Bill through Parliament, as well as for its implementation once passed.

The Bill deals with a number of critical issues:

• a new definition of rape that is free of gender bias and more inclusive of what the victims experience and civil society alike define as rape.
• HIV/AIDS infection or potential infection in the contexts of rape as well as “consensual” sexual activity.
• Definitions of other sexual crimes against adults and children such as intentionally exposing children to sexual activity.
• The age of consent
• Child prostitution
• The prostitution and exploitation of the intellectually impaired
• The Cautionary rules
• Protective mechanisms for child and adult victims.
• Extra-territorial application of the law to enable prosecution of those who commit sexual crimes in South Africa and then return to their home countries.
• The establishment of a National Policy Framework in order to ensure inter-sector cooperation and coordination in the management of sexual offences.

The National Working Group expresses its deep concern that

The original Bill, drafted by the SA Law Reform Commission with the assistance of an expert committee after several years of research and broad consultation, was handed to the (then) Minister of Justice in January 2003.

Public hearings on the Bill were held in September 2003, but called at insufficient notice for civil society participation.

Since this date the Bill has undergone a number of changes which have not been debated with civil society.

Government has made several commitments on the rapid processing of the Bill. However this draft legislation is presently not on the agenda of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.

In the meantime, thousands of victims of sexual assault in South Africa, both adults and children, continue to suffer secondary trauma as a result of the inadequate legislative provisions for the management of sexual offences. This lack of completion of the law reform process continues to cause immeasurable suffering to many victims. It is also of note, that because of the perceived and real inadequacies of the present system of defining and managing the trauma of sexual assault, many victims never report sexual offences or withdraw complaints of sexual assault and their need for and right to justice is thus compromised.

The National Working Group on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill appeals to the Minister to place this Bill back on the Committee Agenda and to afford the Sexual Offences Law Reform Process urgent attention.Indeed, this government’s commitment to equal access to justice for all, women and men, child and adult would be served by the speedy resolution of issues around the Bill, its passing into legislation and its rapid and appropriate implementation.

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