Move to arrest increasing rape crisis with mandato...

Move to arrest increasing rape crisis with mandatory 15-year jail term

Zim Now Writer

Cabinet has approved amendments to the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act to introduce stiff penalties for perpetrators of sexual violence and this will see rapists being sentenced to life imprisonment or “any definite period of imprisonment of not less than 15 years”.

This comes as cases of sexual assault, including on minors, have been on the increase of late with proposed amendments set to arrest the rising number of the cases..

The criminal code currently does not provide for mandatory sentences for rape or aggravated indecent assault, which is defined as the sexual penetration of a victim, including men, without consent.

Official data shows an average 22 women filed rape cases daily between January 2020 and December 2021.

Police have said they recorded more than 16 000 cases of rape in the two years to December 2021, with 7 377 reporting in 2020 while 8 715 women brought their cases up in 2021.

There are also plans to set up a sex offenders’ register to monitor and control ex-convicts upon their release from prison while free legal representation to those accused of rape and other offences will be provided to guard against substantial legal injustices such as miscarriage of justice including wrongful convictions.

This will be achieved through capacitation of the Legal Aid Directorate in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs which is underway.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, in a ministerial statement to Parliament earlier this year, said a less severe penalty would deter the rapist from murdering their victim.

“The ministry acknowledges that the sentence for rape and sexual offences must fully reflect the depravity and seriousness of the crime,” he said.

“The idea of mandatory minimum sentences is to punish the offender sufficiently before they are brought back into mainstream society,” the minister said, adding that mandatory sentences were supposed to deter criminals and repeat offenders.

Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode, said the move was welcome “but we need to ensure that girls can access contraceptives, and we must not allow a nine-year-old to carry a pregnancy to full term. Such pregnancies must be terminated”.

The Padare/Enkundleni Men’s Forum acting director (programmes development and fundraising manager), Dr Thando Makubaza, said deterrent penalties will send a clear message to would-be offenders.

“As Padare, we have zero tolerance for rapists. We do not believe that a rapist is a person who deserves forgiveness or a light sentence,” said Dr Makubaza.