Sexual Violence in South African Schools
© Moira Richards
Human Rights Watch has recently published a report that documents research done in some South African schools. It investigates sexual violence in the schools and the negative effects that this type of abuse has on the education of girls and young women.
The report was based on interviews with many, many concerned people - the teachers, the students, parents, social workers etc - the testimony of some of the schoolgirls are highlighted in this article and in the next.
Two high-school students describe how one of their teachers would direct sexual comments at the girls in his class; how he lured each of them separately to his home, under the pretence of giving her extra tuition; how he attempted to seduce one of the 15-year-old girls, how he drugged and raped the other.
Neither girl was treated supportively at the school after they had lodged a complaints against this teacher. One girl was subjected to taunts and teasing from her fellow students, and the school authorities preferred to protect the reputation of the school, rather than to involve the police in the matter.
Both of the girls have suffered severe psychological effects because of the abuse that they encountered from the teacher, and also from the system that offers more protection to the abuser than it does to the victim. They are reluctant to go to school, their grades have suffered, and they have little motivation to continue with their education.
Another girl was 16 years old and a student at a school for learning-disabled children when she was attacked and raped by a teacher in an empty office. The school's principal did not take the child's allegations seriously, nor did she institute any investigatory or disciplinary proceedings against the teacher. And he was allowed to continue working with children.
A criminal charge was laid against him by the girls and her parents and he was subsequently convicted of the crime. But the child no longer goes to school because her parents fear that it does not provide her with an adequate protection from abusers.
And there is the story of the 12-year-old girl who was raped in her school's toilets by a teacher who then bribed her with money to not report him - and to allow him to have sex with her again.
There are other stories of teachers in very poor communities, who exploit their relative wealth to purchase sex from their young students - often with the approval of the child's parents.
The report was based on interviews with many, many concerned people - the teachers, the students, parents, social workers etc - the testimony of some of the schoolgirls are highlighted in this article and in the next.
Two high-school students describe how one of their teachers would direct sexual comments at the girls in his class; how he lured each of them separately to his home, under the pretence of giving her extra tuition; how he attempted to seduce one of the 15-year-old girls, how he drugged and raped the other.
Neither girl was treated supportively at the school after they had lodged a complaints against this teacher. One girl was subjected to taunts and teasing from her fellow students, and the school authorities preferred to protect the reputation of the school, rather than to involve the police in the matter.
Both of the girls have suffered severe psychological effects because of the abuse that they encountered from the teacher, and also from the system that offers more protection to the abuser than it does to the victim. They are reluctant to go to school, their grades have suffered, and they have little motivation to continue with their education.
Another girl was 16 years old and a student at a school for learning-disabled children when she was attacked and raped by a teacher in an empty office. The school's principal did not take the child's allegations seriously, nor did she institute any investigatory or disciplinary proceedings against the teacher. And he was allowed to continue working with children.
A criminal charge was laid against him by the girls and her parents and he was subsequently convicted of the crime. But the child no longer goes to school because her parents fear that it does not provide her with an adequate protection from abusers.
And there is the story of the 12-year-old girl who was raped in her school's toilets by a teacher who then bribed her with money to not report him - and to allow him to have sex with her again.
There are other stories of teachers in very poor communities, who exploit their relative wealth to purchase sex from their young students - often with the approval of the child's parents.
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