“Indeed in rape cases it is the victim who is most often placed on trial rather than the perpetrator, accused of having ulterior motives and subjected to degrading questions with often pornographic overtones. Prosecutors might fail to adequately address the victims needs and all too often, information is either intentionally or unintentionally withheld from victims.” The victims of sexual offences have to face not only the consequences of the sexual crime that was perpetrated upon them, but they also have to deal with the effects of the criminal justice system. Victims who take part in the criminal justice system should not be exposed to unnecessary distress and trauma. The victims of sexual offences must not be re-victimised by the criminal justice system. Re-victimisation has been coined to describe the experience where victims are subjected to further victimisation by the very state organs to whom they turn for assistance. This has the effect that the victim is victimised twice, first by the offender and then by the criminal justice system. It is therefore the duty of the law to protect this group of witnesses from such a traumatic and damaging experience. The question that needs to be answered in this research is whether the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment has made any difference in respect of protection of victims sexual crimes. It was concluded that the Sexual Offences Act is indeed a step in the right direction to protect the rights of victims of sexual offences but that it could have afforded more protection.

The study undertaken is concerned with the reformulation of the common law crime of rape from a juridical and socio-psychological perspective. It is based on the premise that the common law definition of rape is insufficient. Specific attention is given to the current crime of rape and the proposed amendments introduced by the South African Law Commission. In the haste to transpose the concept of gender-neutrality implemented in other countries to the crime of rape in South Africa, the basic reasoning behind why the crime of rape should be extended to certain categories of victim has been neglected. Rape as a form of penetrative sexual assault is critically examined. The focus of this study is to identify categories of penetrative sexual assault victim in order to justify the extension of the crime to certain victims and to facilitate the application of an extended definition to factual situations. The classification of victims is accomplished with reference to psycho-social data in order to provide a plausible explanation as to why the crime of rape, which was originally created as a property crime, should be extended to additional victims. The common law crimes which can be applied to penetrative sexual assault victims are critically examined. A comparative overview of the definitions of rape adopted in Australia, Britain and the United States of America is undertaken. An investigation is also undertaken into the impact of HIV on rape victims. The extension of the definition of rape to persons who engage in unprotected sexual intercourse with a person who intentionally exposes him or her to the HIV virus or another life threatening illness is examined. The possibility of consolidating the common law crimes into a statutory offence applicable to harmful HIV related behaviour for purposes of expediency and deterrence is examined. A perspective is therefore provided as to the motivation behind why additional penetrative sexual assault victims should be classified as rape victims. The efficiency of the current and proposed definitions of rape is highlighted and examined. Where lacunae are established, solutions are proposed. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Jurisprudence / Unrestricted

Indecent assault consists in an unlawful and intentional indecent assault which is and is intended to be indecent. There is some controversy in the case law whether the indecency is committed only by acts which are, objectively speaking indecent, against the view that even though the act is not indecent itself, may nevertheless found a conviction of indecent assault if it was the intention of the accused to act indecent and such intention was conveyed to the victim. It is submitted that the last mentioned approach is to be preferred but that the following test should be used: 1. If the act, is objectively speaking indecent and there is no doubt about the unlawfulness as well as the indecent intention of the accused, the crime of indecent assault was committed. 2. If the act is objectively speaking indecent but the indecent intention of the accused can not be proven, there is a rebuttable presumption that the accused acted with an indecent intention. Such as presumption must be rebutted b the accused himself. 3. If the act is not objectively speaking, indecent but the indecent intention of the accused can for example be proven by the accused confession to such an intention, the act became indecent. / Text in Afrikaans / Law / LL.M.

Indecent assault consists in an unlawful and intentional indecent assault which is and is intended to be indecent. There is some controversy in the case law whether the indecency is committed only by acts which are, objectively speaking indecent, against the view that even though the act is not indecent itself, may nevertheless found a conviction of indecent assault if it was the intention of the accused to act indecent and such intention was conveyed to the victim. It is submitted that the last mentioned approach is to be preferred but that the following test should be used: 1. If the act, is objectively speaking indecent and there is no doubt about the unlawfulness as well as the indecent intention of the accused, the crime of indecent assault was committed. 2. If the act is objectively speaking indecent but the indecent intention of the accused can not be proven, there is a rebuttable presumption that the accused acted with an indecent intention. Such as presumption must be rebutted b the accused himself. 3. If the act is not objectively speaking, indecent but the indecent intention of the accused can for example be proven by the accused confession to such an intention, the act became indecent. / Text in Afrikaans / Law / LL.M.