Sexual Violence by Educators in South African Schools: Gaps in Accountability

dc.contributor.authorCentre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand School of Law and Cornell Law School’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and International Human Rights Clinic
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-30T16:27:07Z
dc.date.available2015-01-30T16:27:07Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractIn many South African schools, educators have sexually harassed and abused the learners in their care. This serious human rights violation is widespread and well known. However, its actual incidence is difficult to determine as many cases of educator-learner abuse are never reported. Such harassment and abuse – which occurs with frequency not only in South Africa but also worldwide – has devastating consequences for the health and education of the learners, mainly girls, who experience it. Over the past decade, South Africa has adopted important laws and policies to address this grave human rights problem, yet sexual violence persists in South African schools with disquieting regularity. This report examines the gaps in accountability that exist for educator abuse of learners in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Drawing upon desk research and interviews with government officials, NGOs, police, community members, and affected individuals, it identifies and discusses the problems that contribute to the government’s failure to hold abusive educators responsible for their actions and to protect and provide redress to the learners they have abused. It also situates these issues within a framework of South Africa’s international, regional, and domestic legal obligations, and provides recommendations aimed at filling these gaps. (Author Abstract)en_US
dc.identifier.citationCentre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand School of Law and Cornell Law School’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and International Human Rights Clinic (2014). Sexual Violence by Educators in South African Schools: Gaps in Accountability.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=avon_clarke
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11212/2137
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherCornell Law School’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and International Human Rights Clinicen_US
dc.subjectchild abuseen_US
dc.subjectchild sexual abuseen_US
dc.subjectInternational Resourcesen_US
dc.subjectteachersen_US
dc.subjectlawen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subjecteducator sexual misconduct
dc.titleSexual Violence by Educators in South African Schools: Gaps in Accountabilityen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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