Adult female rape survivors' views about the constitutional, human rights and compulsory HIV testing of alleged sex offenders

Abstract

The reality of rape as a direct form of contact crime remains deeply entrenched in South African communities, despite numerous efforts from various governmental stakeholders to curb this heinous crime. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act (32 of 2007), came into effect in 2007 as a strategic approach to prevent secondary victimisation of a victim of sexual offence through the Criminal Justice System (CJS). One of the strategies employed in the aforementioned Act, is the compulsory Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing of alleged sex offenders. The compulsory HIV testing of an alleged sex offender evoked controversy pertaining to its efficiency and the human rights violations that might be incurred upon the alleged accused. This article will highlight the subjective perceptions of adult female rape survivors towards their rights and the rights of alleged sex offenders following rape. The research was conducted at four Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs) in the Gauteng province, which are one stop multi-disciplinary state-owned facilities providing medico-legal services for victims of sexual offences in South Africa. The study was exploratory- descriptive in nature within a positivistic paradigm. Quantitative research methods were employed, with the aid of a self-administered questionnaire as a measuring instrument given to adult female rape survivors to complete. Forty-five research respondents participated in the study. This article thus serves as one of two domains under investigation relating to the current study.