Gender construction in sexual offences cases: A case for fully reviving the Sexual Offences Courts
Loading...
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Juta
Abstract
Gender inequality, male hegemony and the power dynamics at the
core of patriarchal society enable the high rate of sexual offences
and the low conviction rate of sexual offenders when incidents are
reported. The criminal justice system does not provide a safe space for
the sexual offence victim/survivor to relate her experience of sexual
violence. Sexual Offences Courts provided a victim-centred approach
to the criminal justice system. The closure of these courts has been
detrimental to the campaign for social justice and the constitutional
rights of complainants. Feminist scholarship is employed as a lens
through which to analyse and expose the deficiencies in the current
framework used to secure convictions in sexual offences cases.
Wishik’s development and expansion of the ‘woman question’ is
used to refine this method, subquestions are formulated to provide
a systematic process for interrogating the status quo, and for finding
remedies to redress the problems identified. The closure of Sexual
Offences Courts may be seen as a form of discrimination against
women. It is therefore recommended that these specialised courts
are reintroduced as a matter of urgency as the state needs to meet its
constitutional obligations.
Description
Keywords
Gender inequality, Criminal justice, Sexual offences, Offences
Citation
Chinnian, K. Petersen, A .(2020). Gender construction in sexual offences cases: A case for fully reviving the Sexual Offences Courts Acta Juridica pp. 135–163