New UCT Press publication Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa by Dee Smythe was launched recently at the Kramer Law Building at the University of Cape Town.

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Debates around South Africa’s rape culture and violence against women are building momentum. This year alone has seen anti-rape protests at Rhodes University, the #NakedProtest and #RUReferenceList marches, which saw all campus activity suspended, and a rape awareness initiative that spread to Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town, where a Sexual Offence Response Team has been established.

But rape takes place off-campus, too. More than 1,000 women are raped in South Africa every day. Around 150 of those women will report the crime to the police. Fewer than 30 of the cases will be prosecuted and no more than 10 will result in a conviction – that’s 4 percent.

In Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa, Smythe, who is Director of the Centre for Law and Society at UCT, is concerned with the question of police discretion and how it shapes the criminal justice response to rape in South Africa.

Through a detailed, qualitative review of rape dockets and victim statements, as well as interviews with detectives, prosecutors, magistrates and rape counsellors, the author provides key insights into police responses to rape.

Smythe was in conversation with Dr Kelley Moult about the book.

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Book details

• Rape Unresolved: Policing sexual offences in South Africa by Dee Smythe
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  EAN: 9781919895895
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