Rape not treated seriously - minister
2013-02-21 15:49
Cape Town - Police officers and social workers should
treat abuse and rape cases with more seriousness, a ministerial committee said
on Wednesday.
"We cannot continue having social workers, police
officers and health workers who treat issues of domestic violence as a private
matter," the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Violence against Women
and Children said in a statement.
"There is evidence that victims reported cases of
domestic violence to police or social workers, but their pleas for help fell on
deaf ears or they were told to resolve the matter with their partners."
The IMC is led by Social Development Minister Bathabile
Dlamini and comprises the ministers of women, justice, health, home affairs,
police, and basic education.
At a meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, the committee
noted there were tougher laws to protect women and children, but police and
social workers did not treat cases of rape and abuse seriously.
This also resulted in secondary victimisation of those
who reported such crimes.
The committee said it would push for prevention and early
intervention to protect women and children against the scourge.
"It (IMC) noted that while government has enacted
various pieces of legislation to provide better protection for women and
children, there was a need to move from policy to action..."
Several research reports, including a study done by the
Medical Research Council (MRC), on gaps in government response to the problem
came under discussion.
"It (MRC report) noted that there was a myriad of
research around men and what causes them to behave violently but strong focus
was required to educate the girl child of her responsibilities to protect
herself," the statement said.
Several cases of the rape and murder of young women
dominated newspaper headlines earlier this month.
On 1 February, 17-year old Anene Booysen was gang raped
and disembowelled.
She died in hospital shortly afterwards.
The case has sparked a wave of public protest.
- SAPA
