Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - March 10, 2008

Many people who have been raped also face the compound trauma of HIV or an unwanted pregnancy. Young children's bodies can be so badly damaged that they may never bear their own children.

In South Africa, it is estimated that at least 500000 women and children are forced every year to have unwanted sexual intercourse with cruel and sadistic men who treat them as objects to be abused and discarded. This places a terrible emotional burden on our nation.

NGOs estimate that one in two South African women is likely to be raped, and that 75% of rapes of women and children are gang rapes. Most rapes go unreported, and only 7% of reported rapes result in conviction.

So when the law says the minimum mandatory sentence for those who commit multiple rapes, or rape a minor, is life in jail unless there are compelling mitigating factors, we expect our judges to do their bit.

It therefore comes as a shock to learn that many members of the Bench appear to hand out sentences at odds with the law. Research by the University of Cape Town's Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit suggests that some of our judges have dangerously eccentric ideas about what constitute compelling mitigating factors.

One example is that of a father who raped his six-year- old daughter. Judge Jeremy Pickering sentenced him to 15 years because he had acted "on the spur of the moment". Acting on the spur of the moment should never be an excuse for a crime, let alone one like this. A father is supposed to protect his children, not rape them.

In 2003 another judge, Judge AJ Visser, sentenced a man to eight years, with four years suspended, for raping a 14- year-old girl twice. The judge said the victim, "being the pretty girl she is, might have brought out the animal in the accused spontaneously". This shows scant understanding of the fact that no man has the right to force himself on anyone, regardless of whether she is pretty.

And it's not as though female judges are exempt from disgraceful lapses in logic. Acting Judge Beverly Franks seemed to think that not killing a woman after robbing, raping and stabbing her in the face amounted to compelling mitigating circumstances for two men.

We are appalled by the judges' comments. All too few women are prepared to endure their trauma again by testifying in court. It is time for judges to recognise the courage it takes for a rape victim to fight for justice - and in so doing to stop her rapist from attacking others.

To the judges who find compelling mitigating factors where there are none, we urge you to think about what it means to tell a rape survivor that her rapists deserve a lesser sentence because they didn't kill her.

But this isn't enough. We join the UCT researchers in calling for judicial officers to be trained about the consequences of rape. Without such training, there will be no justice for rape victims.

The judges should also be called before the Judicial Services Commission to explain their remarks.

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