Preview: Will History Repeat itself...?
In 2009, during the 16 days of activism, reports of abuse against women and children are alarmingly high and shocking. The increase of these cases is not in itself a bad thing: we want statistics to go up, it means women and children feel safer in reporting. However, the negative is that abuse is still happening. The only way that we can change this trend on a long term basis, is by improving the collection, collation and presentation of evidence from the point of the crime scene to court and beyond... In other words, improve the system used to assist victims of abuse.
Read the article below written in 2006, and comment on further suggestions to improve the system supporting victims of abuse.
The redeploying of the Family Violence and Child protection and Sexual Assault Unit members has seriously undermined the fight against sexual violence, The message sent out by the SAPS to rape survivors was that they are not important enought to warrant a specialised unit. Although members were redeployed to hotspot areas, there has been a vacuum of experienced investigators in other areas. Inexperienced investigators are being assigned abuse cases, and so certain cases are not receiving the best possible attention.
Investigators are under resourced and under staffed. Even in this age of electronic technology, investigators do not have adequate access to equipmentsuch as laptops / internet that would assist their investigations.
SAPS members are not receiving adequate training in the handling of rape and sexual violence cases, and the so-called Victim empowerment services available at police stations are ineffective due to insufficient training of volunteers, inadequate management structures implemented and a high turnover rate of victim empowerment volunteers due to burnout.
Investigators are under resourced and under staffed. Even in this age of electronic technology, investigators do not have adequate access to equipmentsuch as laptops / internet that would assist their investigations.
SAPS members are not receiving adequate training in the handling of rape and sexual violence cases, and the so-called Victim empowerment services available at police stations are ineffective due to insufficient training of volunteers, inadequate management structures implemented and a high turnover rate of victim empowerment volunteers due to burnout.
Another contributing factor to poor service delivery is not so much the department responsible but more the system used to assist rape survivors medico-legally.
Unless rape survivors are bought to iThemba, or other NGO's for the Forensic Assault Examination, survivors are taken to either a private healthcare facility or a provincial hospital. Regardless whether the service received at these facilities is good or not, the environment is not always the most supportive for a rape survivor. At any casualty or emergency room, priority cases will always recieve priority! A Gunshot or cardiac arrest patient will always be seen before a rape survivor unless the rape survivor has serious injuries: medical staff cannot be faulted for that. Once the Medico-legal examiner is available to see the rape survivor, the collection of evidence and filling in of the justic form J88 is not always going to be prioritized; There is not always sufficient time available for the filling out of forms to be 100% accurate. There have been cases when forms have been incomplete, not unusual on a busy friday night.
Unless rape survivors are bought to iThemba, or other NGO's for the Forensic Assault Examination, survivors are taken to either a private healthcare facility or a provincial hospital. Regardless whether the service received at these facilities is good or not, the environment is not always the most supportive for a rape survivor. At any casualty or emergency room, priority cases will always recieve priority! A Gunshot or cardiac arrest patient will always be seen before a rape survivor unless the rape survivor has serious injuries: medical staff cannot be faulted for that. Once the Medico-legal examiner is available to see the rape survivor, the collection of evidence and filling in of the justic form J88 is not always going to be prioritized; There is not always sufficient time available for the filling out of forms to be 100% accurate. There have been cases when forms have been incomplete, not unusual on a busy friday night.
So, what is the solution?
In order for survivors to receive the optimal treatment they deserve, we need to see the resetablishment of a specialised unit dealing with sexual and physical abuse comprised of experienced investigators working in conjunction with one stop rape crisis centres dedicated to supporting rape survivors both emotionally and medico-legally. As part of this approach, regular communication with role players such as the regional courts,prosecutors, and social welfare workers would need to take place. A system whereby greater care is taken in respect of the careful gathering of forensic evidence, greater communication between police investigators and the prosecutors would contribute to higher conviction rates. Such centralisation of services would also foster better community awarenes and education and begin to lower the rates of sexual violence.
I might sound like an alarmist, but unless we start re-developing our approach to sexual violence against adults and children, we may find that we are sitting on a social time bomb. The effect of sexual violence on our children and women will be felt in years to come if these survivors do not begin to receive the care they should receive both emotionally, psychologically and medically. It is time for us to act now!
Philip Stoneman
No comments:
Post a Comment