High-profile trials highlight scourge of child rape

Two high-profile child rape cases have highlighted the plight of victims of crimes that were committed decades ago as well as a traditional custom which allows men to purchase teenage girls. Legalbrief reports that the trial of former Grand Slam tennis champion Bob Hewitt made headlines around the world and once again drew attention to the scourge of celebrity paedophiles preying on vulnerable children. The former Australian who emigrated to South Africa decades ago was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault by the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg). Judge Bert Bam said: ‘The state’s evidence against the accused is overwhelming. The three complainants have basic rights. Time did not erase the crimes. A guilty person should not go unpunished. The scales of justice tip against the accused.’ Hewitt (75) was on trial for the alleged rape of two of his former students, Theresa ‘Twiggy’ Tolken and Suellen Sheehan, in the 1980s, and the sexual assault of a third woman, in the 1990s. A report on the News24 site notes that he gave tennis lessons to the girls. He pleaded not guilty. During the trial Tolken testified that Hewitt touched her inappropriately and forced her to perform oral sex on him 34 years ago when she was 12. They were driving to Sun City at the time. A third woman, who cannot be named, claimed Hewitt had rubbed up against her while coaching her in the 1990s. Another of Hewitt’s students testified in his defence. The woman, who may not be named, said Hewitt was a strict coach but was never inappropriate. Hewitt coached her and Sheehan in the 1980s. Hewitt has been granted R10 000 bail and is expected back in court on 17 April for sentencing proceedings.

Child rape is also a burning issue in Kenya where measures are being taken to raise awareness of the scourge. A report on the allAfrica site notes that a schoolboy who recently saw a man attempting to undress a young girl he was dragging along a Nairobi riverbank alerted a group of men who intervened. ‘It would have been fatal,’ said Collins Omondi, who taught the boy as part of a programme to stamp out violence against women and girls in Nairobi slums. Omondi teaches a programme called ‘Your Moment of Truth’, run by the charity Ujamaa Africa which encourages adolescent boys to stand up against violence towards women. The training is ‘highly effective’ in improving attitudes towards women and increasing the likelihood of successful intervention, researchers from Stanford University, the University of Nairobi and US International University-Africa said. The training increased boys’ successful interventions when witnessing physical or sexual assault by 185%, from 26 to 74%, according to their study to be published later this year in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. ‘Our main focus on the curriculum is positive masculinity for the boys, positive empowerment, and actually making them gentlemen on issues to do with the prevention of rape and standing up for the rights of women,’ Omondi is quoted in the report as saying.