Child rape: Sick society
2003-10-14 19:19
Cape Town - The increasing rape and abuse of babies and young girls in South Africa is a dangerous symptom of a very sick society, says an expert.
According to forensic criminologist Irma Labuschagne, it is difficult to sketch a profile of a "typical" child rapist, but there are some common denominators in many of the cases reported.
"Alcohol seems to play the biggest part. Also, where mothers do not know how to take care of their babies. Unemployment is also a problem."
Labuschagne, whose expertise is often called on by the courts in child abuse cases, says overcrowding at home is another common factor in such crimes.
Speaking to Sapa from Johannesburg, she said the myth that sleeping with a virgin could cure Aids was also causing an increase in child rape cases.
"We would be very stupid to think it does not. It is not the first time that kind of myth has existed."
Labuschagne's remarks follow the rape of a nine-month-old baby at her home in Cape Town on Saturday, while her parents and others lay sleeping after a party.
Police in the Mother City on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with the rape.
In a second incident at the weekend, a two-year-old girl was lured away from friends outside her home in the Du Noon informal settlement and raped. Her mother was out shopping at the time.
According to media reports, a total of 38 girls have been raped or assaulted in the Western Cape so far this month.
According to the latest South African Police Service annual report, the number of cases of child abuse increased nationally by 81.2% in the 2002/03 reporting year.
Cases doubled
From April 1, 2002 to March 31 this year, 4 798 cases of child abuse were reported, compared to 2 648 the previous year.
The report shows the highest incidence of child abuse to be in the Western Cape, followed by Gauteng and then the Eastern Cape.
Labuschagne says crimes against children are a symptom of a very sick society.
"It is a very dangerous symptom of a very sick society. A society that is so violent that it is becoming desensitised to this kind of thing.
"The Baby Tshepang case was front page news all over the country. This latest incident is just a little square in the middle of the page."
Labuschagne says there is a need for South Africans to return to old-fashioned morals and values.
"The community has to take this in hand. Everyone has some responsibility, and must see exactly how abhorrent this kind of behaviour is. It cannot be accepted."
However, she says the morale of some people is so low they do not care what is happening next door to them.
"It is easy to say there should be a return to old fashioned values, but some people are in places where they feel their lives are almost over."
- SAPA