Families are torn apart, victims re-traumatised, cries of desperate parents and violated children echo and the hope for justice remains just that — hope. Parents of children who were victims of abuse, murder and other atrocious criminal acts have been reduced to mere statistics.
The Sunday Times this week reported on research by the Teddy Bear Foundation that paints a grim picture of a conviction rate of just 4% in children’s cases. This research serves not only as a slap in the face, but a reminder of the resounding failure of the very justice system meant to protect all.
The front-page article reflects the defeat of parents who have fought relentlessly for justice that is barred by systematic delays, technical failures such as load-shedding, and an ailing court infrastructure that fails them at every turn.
When a mother says going to court is torture because each time they feel like they’re starting the process from scratch, we have to wonder what is so difficult about serving those in need of justice and obtaining closure. It shows that the effects of the failures are not theoretical, abstract or far, but real and close to home. The legal limbo is a violation of the very attainment of human rights we celebrated last week.
How is it acceptable for a family to endure six years of delays and postponements because of load-shedding, water outages and technical difficulties? Was the infrastructure not designed to protect and facilitate the healing and restoration of victims? Why then is it allowed to compound the pain?
With every delay, justice is slipping away as the victims watch the wheels of justice grinding agonisingly slowly. Who among us will hear the cries of these desperate parents?
One mother said: “Somewhere along the line, we stopped crying, we’ve run out of tears.”
How many more children must relive their trauma? Who will put out this chorus of anguish and despair if the courts and the spheres of government meant to protect them seem indifferent to their suffering?
In the end it comes down to: who will stand up for these children? Who will wipe their parents' tears?
According to the report, the tragedy is compounded by the absence of specialised courts dealing with sexual offences, a worrying shortage of trained intermediaries and a forensic backlog.
The backlog of 141,190 cases in the forensic DNA database is not a technical issue but a catastrophic failure to hold perpetrators accountable and protect the vulnerable.
We echo the sentiments of children rights activist Joan van Niekerk, who said pursuing justice does more harm to the victims than the abuse itself — it adds a layer of hopelessness in an already hopeless situation.
In the end it comes down to: who will stand up for these children? Who will wipe their parents' tears?
The children of this country deserve safe environments where their future is carefully carved. They deserve dignity, happiness and a positive outlook on life. Most importantly, they deserve a justice system that works for them and not against them.
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