The Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities strongly condemns any form of gender-based violence.
The sexual assault (captured on a cell phone) of a 17 year-old girl by seven men (including minors) depicts how gender violence continues to plague the South African society.
The committee further condemns the circulation of the video footage and would like to remind South Africans that, according to the Film and Publications Amendment Act of 2009, possession or distribution of the video of the incident is a criminal offence.
Section 24 (b) of the Act says, “Any person who knowingly makes available, exports, broadcasts or in any way distributes or causes to be made available, exported, broadcast or distributed or assists in making available, exporting, broadcasting or distributing, any film, game or publication which contains depictions, descriptions or scenes of child pornography or which advocates, advertises, encourages or promotes child pornography or the sexual exploitation of children, shall be guilty of an offence”.
“Violent offences like these are a reminder of how stringent our justice system should be when dealing with sexual offence cases of this nature. We should all live in a society that respects human rights and dignity of one another,” says Committee Chairperson, Ms Dorothy Ramodibe.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, contact:
Faith Kwaza (Parliamentary Communication Services)
Tel: 021 403 8062
Cell: 072 122 0371
E-mail: fkwaza@parliament.gov.za
