Exploring the Rape Survivor's Experiences of the South African Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Until recently, little attention was paid to victims of crime and violence in South Africa. Moolman (1997) argued that within the framework of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) the victim is totally marginalized. Geis also maintains that the victim of crime experiences a number of problems with each subsystem of the CJS (Cited in Galaway and Hudson, 1981). They further argue that the CJS is mainly offender orientated and they also claim that previously within the South African CJS, the focus was primarily placed on the offender of the crime, with the victim viewed as a complainant and/or witness at best. Not surprisingly therefore, research has pointed out that victims of crime and violence are often victimized twice - first by the offender and second by the insensitive treatment meted out by members of the criminal justice system, the health care system and support services (Davis and Snyman: 2005). However, with the introduction of democracy in South Africa in 1994, and the inclusion of the Bill of Human Rights in the South African Constitution (Act' 108 of 1996), the rights of victims have finally been recognized and accentuated in terms of legislation.