NEWS
Response to Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi about Baby Rape from Rape Action Group, People Opposed to Women Abuse, Open Disclosure Foundation and Media Against Violence

Open Disclosure Foundtion, Rape Action Group, People Opposed to Women Abuse and Media Against Violence are appalled at the insensitive, inhuman and degrading response Commissioner of Police Jackie Selebi had to The Star after it showed him photographs taken for medical legal evidence of a baby brutally raped (www.iol.co.za)

We call for his immediate suspension with a view to him being fired for his totally inappropriate response. This is the man charged with protecting the citizens of South Africa. If his response is that recorded in The Star today, then he is not fit to hold his post.
We call on citizens of South Africa who are opposed to the rape of children to write to President Thabo Mbeki and call for a State of Emergency with regard to sexual violence and the abuse of children in this country.

Selebi pointed to 97 life sentences and 2 112 convictions for child rape in the past year - we hope that in a year that saw around 20 000 REPORTED child rapes he does not expect us to celebrate such a pathetic conviction rate.

We understand the outrage and trauma to the medical staff who have to deal with these babies. We are scandalised that the Commissioner has threatened the doctor with taking photographs which he knows are necessary for the medical legal process, but too in a country where Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media is enshrined.

We believe the media has been remiss in following up these children and monitoring the long term consequences, physical and emotional to them and their families. The media need to let the public know that these babies will never be able to function as normal adults, aside from the emotional effect, the physical damage includes pain on urinating, difficulty in having a normal sex life, or in giving birth at a later stage. It can include a perpetual drip of faeces or urine. The physical damage is enormous. And you, Commissioner Selebi, will neither suffer that, or have to bring up a child that will endure lifelong emotional and physical damage.

Such photographs are not pornographic Commissioner Selebi, the only pornography is in a society that continues to allow this to happen. In recent times hospitals, clinics and the police services have been swamped by the rape of very small children.
We call for urgent investigations into the virgin rape myth but too, we believe we can never erode this myth until medication for all HIV-related illnesses, not just antiretrovirals, are made easily available to all who are infected in whatever part of the country they may reside.

Selebi is correct on one issue - we should all be ashamed, we are all responsible in one way or another for this climate of severe abuse and rape of our children. By our silence we allow such abuse to continue.

We call on Cabinet too, to explain why they lied to the public of South Africa on 17 April when they promised to issue Post Exposure Prophylaxis with "immediate effect" to rape survivors. We are seeing an escalating number of HIV+ rape survivors.

We elect people into positions of power to do their jobs. Commissioner Selebi we pay your salary, you are accountable to us as citizens.

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