The most prevalent reason for sexual offences cases to fail in court is they’re reported a long time after the incident occurred.

Less than 20% of cases reported go to trial and only 8.6% of cases result in a conviction. This leads to a lack of trust in the criminal justice system as it appears that there is a very small chance that justice will be achieved if you report your rape to the police, according to the Rape Crisis Report.

Sometimes it is the victim’s word against the perpetrator’s with no other supportive evidence or there are contradicting statements that are being brought to court.

Gender differences in offences against children. Picture: statssa.gov.za

“Sometimes victims go to court and withdraw the cases or there are witnesses that are supposed to come and support the victim, that are now alienated, don’t want to come to court to give evidence,” said Free State police family, child and sexual offences unit head, Brigadier. Herna Els.

“There are cases where the prosecutors need additional information and then the cases are removed from the court roll temporarily for the investigating officer to go and comply with those instructions and obtain the additional information that is needed.”

There is not a timeline for the temporary removal it can be between a few weeks to two months, depending on how long it takes the investigating officer to be able to obtain the necessary evidence. Sometimes it is expert evidence and reports from psychologists and so forth that is needed.

In the province there are 18 Child and Sexual Offences units and these units serve all 111 police stations, and members of the police are available and on standby 24/7 to render a service to victims of sexual offences and children.

Brigadier Herna Els, Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Covane, and Lieutenant Colonel AJ Cilliers. Photo: Zenande Mpame

There are many cases where minors are the perpetrators. Reporting incidents also helps identify the reasons why children commit crimes and get them the assistance they need.

“In the unit we have forensic social workers that are forensically trained and deal specifically with assistance and assessment with minor victims and witnesses,” said Els.

“Most of the 111 police stations in the province have victim-friendly facilities available. This means that when vulnerable victims come to report sensitive cases they are interviewed in this private room.”

Incidences of violence against children reported for January 2024. Picture: linkedin.com

Police statistics show that rape was the most prevalent crime reported for children under 17 from 2015/16 to 2019/20, followed by common assault and grievous bodily harm (GBH) assault.

Times Live reports boys under the age of 17 are more likely to be victims of murder, assault leading to grievous bodily harm, attempted murder and robbery. Some of this is attributed to gangsters. Girls are more likely to be victims of rape, sexual assault, child trafficking and attempted robbery.

Amongst the eleven districts where most cases of assault with GBH for children aged 17 and younger were reported, Bojanala, Sedibeng, Fezile Dabi and Dr Kenneth Kaunda districts were in Central South Africa.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame dg