South Africa Passes Progressive Rape Law

Lawmakers in South Africa voted on May 22 to pass the sexual offences bill, which had been more than a decade in the making. The new law allows victims of sexual assault to obtain a court order to force alleged perpetrators to undergo HIV testing; states that the test results be made available to the victims; and entitles victims to receive post-exposure prophylactic AIDS drugs at state expense. It broadens the definition of rape to include any forced sexual penetration, including of the mouth or anus, regardless of the sex of either party. It also creates a registry of people convicted of sexual attacks on children and mentally handicapped persons to ensure they do not get jobs working with these populations or adopt children. In fiscal year 2005-06, South African police recorded 55,000 rape cases and almost 10,000 cases of "indecent assault," the previous classification of oral or anal rape. Nearly half the victims were believed to be children.

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