Eksterne faktore wat die seksueel misbruikte kind verhoed om effektief te getuig in die Suid-Afrikaanse howe : vlugtige oorsig

Abstract

Child sexual abuse is an epidemic that adversely affects the whole of society. The conviction rate of sexual offenders is exceptionally low in South Africa. This can be attributed to several aspects, including that children testify ineffectively in court. There are several factors in the court process that prevent children from testifying effectively in court. The purpose of the research is to examine the legal system in South Africa in regards to the court procedures where children are involved and to identify the factors that influence children’s testimony. These factors were researched by means of a rapid review. The study focused on external factors related to court proceedings. Various databases were searched, namely SA Publications, Sabinet, EBSCO-Host, LexisNexis and Juta. The PRISMA guidelines were used for quality appraisal of the articles. Both the title and summary were examined to determine the relevance of the data. There were two researchers involved in the study: the first researcher launched the study and the second researcher ensured quality. From the final 8 articles, factors were identified and thematically analysed to identify the external factors as stated in the article. The factors identified are following. Inadequate court preparation cause children to testify less effectively; so proper court preparation is of great value in obtaining more effective evidence. Contact with the alleged offender or the possibility of contact during the court proceedings, provokes excessive tension in the child as a witness. The tension and anxiety cause children to testify less effectively. Delay in court proceedings is directly related to poorer evidence given by children, and that this is a common problem in the South African legal system. In the majority of the articles it was found that insufficient child participation in the South African courts can be attributed to a lack of sufficient resources. It appears that a lack of adequate support for the family and the child affects the effectiveness of the evidence. Parents of child witnesses alone cannot provide adequate support to their child, as they themselves do not necessarily have all the answers about court proceedings and in many cases one of them is the offender. Because of anxiety and stress, the quality of the evidence is affected, because stress levels of the witnessing process affect children's memory of events and memory. It is extremely important to reduce the stress as far as possible. Secondary victimization has a tremendous impact on the child's ability to participate meaningfully in court proceedings. What is needed is that staff working in and around the court should receive thorough training and have the necessary awareness to be able to adequately address the issue. The article concludes with a list of factors that influence children's participation in the court process in the South African courts. Thus the research question and aim is answered. Although the findings and recommendations have been formulated in the form of an article, more empirical research is needed to investigate the factors in depth in future studies.