By Nadine Theron
Justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola says women use their emotions to convince courts that the law gives suspects a loophole in rape cases.
This follows an application submitted to the Constitutional Court last week to amend the wording of the rape law, to make it harder for rapists to pretend they did not know they were acting against the victim’s will.
Current legislation requires proof from the state that the accused had the “criminal intent” to rape before he can be found guilty.
According to the application, this law should be rewritten to further clarify definitions of the words “rape” and “consent” – in short, “no” is “no”. If the accused disregards this principle, he is a rapist.
The application was submitted by the non-profit organisation The Embrace Project, and by a woman from Pretoria who was raped as a teenager.
The victim describes the horrific attack on her: “I said ‘no’, and I also said ‘stop!’ I tried to push him off me but it was impossible while my legs were above my head, being pressed against the couch.”
The rape victim lost her court case against her alleged rapist because the man testified that he could not hear her saying “no”.
The Embrace Project says the current wording of the law swings the case overwhelmingly in favor of the accused, as it is nigh impossible to prove an intention.
The minister opposes the application. “This application is driven by the women’s egos towards men and they are using their emotions to try to convince the court that the law is unconstitutional – but it is not,” he said through his spokesperson, Leonard Sebelemetja.
“There is no problem with the current legislation on sexual offences, and women cannot blame the prevalence of rape in our country on the law,” believes the minister.
Sebelemetjia is the chief director of law development in Lamola’s department.
The minister says that the fault in the relevant case does not lie with the law, but with misinterpretation by the magistrate hearing the case.
He claims to sympathise with the victim, which is inconsistent with his ruling on the court application.
One in three women in South Africa has been raped or will be raped – and that’s only the cases that are reported to the police.
Last year, the ANC Women’s League proposed chemical castration as additional punishment for rapists, but experts believe there is no point
in harsh penalties for rape when the current legislation makes it so difficult to find suspects guilty in the first place.
Pictured above: Members of The Embrace Project protest in front of the Union Building
Photo source: Supplied
