Saturday 02 November

Working Group on Sexual Offences submission on Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2005

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill

The National Working Group on the Sexual Offences Bill made a submission on 30 October 2005. This submission begins by explaining why violence against women is an obstacle to the socio-economic development of South Africa. It then provides statistics on the extent of the problem before setting out the policies and laws which have been developed to address violence against women, or gender-based violence.

Compulsory Testing of Alleged Sexual Offenders Bill, 2003

The arguments and recommendations in this submission are based on a number of human rights and public health considerations. In particular we have focused on the following four areas: the rights of the survivor of sexual assault; the rights of the accused; theimpact of the draft bill on public health measures to limit spread of HIV; and the impact of the bill on state services for survivors of sexual assault. These are not isolated concerns, being interrelated and having an impact on each other.

WDA