4 Articles 4 (2) (a) (c) Article 5 (c): Protection of Women from
Violence
Constitutional and Legislative Measures
4.1
The Constitution guarantees the right to personal security,
importantly acknowledging that “every person has the right to
bodily and psychological integrity, which includes freedom from all
forms of violence from public and private sources.101”
5 The Domestic Violence Act
5.1
The Act defines domestic violence broadly enough to cover most
instances of gender based violence and criminalizes the acts of
domestic violence. The Act also provides various forms of relief for
survivors of domestic violence. A key aspect of the Act is the
provision for third parties to report domestic violence, where the
person experiencing domestic violence themselves is unable to
report it.
The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act
5.2
101
The Act sets out the scope of punishable sexual offences including
marital rape. Furthermore, the Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Act has been amended to make provision for the support of
victims of sexual abuse during court processes. In case of
pregnancy as a result of rape, the Termination of Pregnancy Act
provides for lawful termination of the pregnancy at no cost to the
survivor.
Section 52 of the Constitution
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