Cape Town — The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) has called on the government and the South African Police Services (SAPS) to do more to help rape victims.
This comes after an Eastern Cape girl was raped and turned away from a clinic when she sought help. She was referred to a local police station where she later died. Health Minister Joe Phaala said there was no excuse for the attitude of the health professionals, which he described the situation as “unacceptable”.
Health Ombudsman, Professor Taole Mokoena released the findings of the investigation on Tuesday, where the report was permitted to be released as it would not affect the investigation.
The probe of the incident was to find out whether or not Vena had died as a result of neglect, whether she was denied care at the clinic as alleged, or whether he clinic staff failed to refer her to the next level of care.
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According to EWN, WLC’s Bronwyn Plithey said more needs to be done to support the women and girls who have been raped.
“The biggest issue really is that we cannot have the delays that we are experiencing across the country and we cannot have people who are not adequately trained and aware of the various protocols that are in place,” she said.
The WLC is a team of attorneys, candidate attorneys, paralegals and legal advisors specialise in feminist litigation. The organisation drives a feminist agenda that acknowledges discrimination against women based on class, race, gender idenity and sexual orientation and provides tools to women to empower themselves.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
