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Uneven and Still Insufficient: South African Police Services' Station-Level Compliance With Sexual Offences Laws

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Feminist Criminology

Published online on

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a quantitative study undertaken at South African Police Service stations across the Western Cape Province, measuring what we term committed intake compliance with sexual offences law. Fifty police stations were surveyed for compliance with the first layer of procedural and service requirements for receiving a victim’s report of a sexual offence. On average, stations complied with only 68% of the measured requirements. The authors analyze patterns in compliance that likely contribute to the drop-out of rape and sexual assault cases from the criminal justice system.