REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS
and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
110.
The Children’s Act, 2005333 gives effect to certain rights of children as contained in the
Constitution and sets out principles relating to the care and protection of children.
The Older Persons Act, 2006334 provides for the protection of older person from violence
of all forms including from intimate partners, abuse and neglect.
The Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment Act, 2007335 provides that certain
circumstances shall not constitute substantial and compelling circumstances justifying the
imposition of a lesser sentence when a sentence must be imposed in respect of the
offence of rape.
The Criminal law Amendment (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Act, 2007336 seeks to
protect women and children by, inter alia, criminalizing a wide range of acts of sexual
abuse and exploitation. It repeals the common law offence of rape and replaces it with a
new expanded statutory offence of rape, applicable to all forms of sexual penetration
without consent, irrespective of gender. It also repeals the common law offence of
indecent assault and replaces it with a new offence of sexual assault, which contains a
wider range of acts of sexual violation without consent. Moreover, the Act targets for
punishment sexual predators that prey on children and people with disabilities. It
criminalizes sexual exploitation or grooming of children and people with disabilities,
exposure or display of child pornography or pornography to children and the creation of
child pornography.
The Protection from Harassment, 2011337 aims to protect victims of harassment (including
sexual harassment), in order to put into effect the right of all people in South Africa to be
free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources.
The Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2013338 protects women and
children from trafficking and related unlawful acts. The legislation fulfils the objectives to
provide for an offence of trafficking in persons and other offences associated with
trafficking in persons to prevent and combat the trafficking in persons within or across the
borders of the Republic; to provide for measures to protect and assist victims of trafficking
in persons; and to provide for the establishment of the Intersectoral Committee on
Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons and the criminalization of practices
resulting in forced and early marriages and harmful cultural and traditional practices such
as Ukuthwala. It has also the effect of domesticating the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress,
and Punish Trafficking in Persons.
South Africa has adopted an integrated approach to the management of violence against women
and children. It has established an Inter-Departmental Management Team (IDMI) which is a multidisciplinary expert team, established in 2005 to design and implement programmes aimed at
addressing gender-based violence. Its programmes were integrated in the objectives of the
National Crime Prevention Strategy, which, with evolution of crime approaches, resulted in the
adoption of the Justice Crime Prevention Strategy. This strategy has several components, including
333
Act No. 38 of 2005
Act No. 13 of 2006
335
Act No. 38 of 2007
336
Act No. 32 of 2007
337
Act No. 17 of 2011
338
Act No. 7 of 2013
334
167
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