40.8% of rape victims are kids

2005-09-22 09:19

Pretoria - Children were the victims in 40.8% of rape cases reported during 2004/05, according to the SA Police Service's (SAPS) annual report released on Wednesday.

They were also the victims of indecent assault in 47.7% of reported cases and of common assault in 11.8%, states the report released in Pretoria.

In 9.7% of cases of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, children were the victims, as well as in 6.4% of cases of attempted murder and 6% of murder.

The report says women and children accounted for 59% of the victims of all contact crimes reported during the financial year.

They accounted for 100% of rape victims, 86.3% of indecent assault victims, and 64.4% of common assault victims.

"It is clear that especially in relation to sexually motivated violence, women and children are indeed extremely vulnerable," the document states.

It questioned assertions that the under-reporting of rape could be as high as 19 out of 20 cases, or 95%.

"All major scientific victim surveys conducted over the past few years indicate an under-reporting of between one to two out of three cases (33% to 66%)."

But the report conceded these might be "slightly deflated" figures, as women and children falling victim to rape were often dependent on the perpetrators for a livelihood.

- SAPA