CHILD RAPE & ABUSE

Suing the perpetrator, judgment Van Zijl vs Hoogenhout, 30 August 2004
The groundbreaking judgement handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal, in South Africa, August, 2004 in the case of Esme van Zijl v. I.M Hoogenhout is now available. The Supreme Court held that a survivor of sexual abuse as a child who only in adulthood acquired an appreciation of the responsibility of the abuser may sue the abuser within three years of acquiring that appreciation. In this case, Van Zijl sued recently for abuse that took place between 1958-1967.
The judgement is groundbreaking not only in the legal precedent it sets but in its recognition and explanation of the problems and stigmatisation survivors face.
It is avialalbe on the internet at the www.uovs.ac.za/fac/law/judgement site. Search under 'judgements' once you get into that. The case was heard on August 30th 2004, judgement delivered on Sept 27th 2004, the case number is 348/03. Van Zijl v Hoogenhout.

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