SPECIALISED policing units were vital in reducing secondary trauma in women and child survivors of sexual violence, organisations dealing with sexual violence said yesterday.
Led by the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC), the organisations were reacting to Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's announcement on Wednesday that police were looking at bringing back specialised units.
Such units included the specialised family violence, child abuse and sexual offences (FCS) units.
"It's the best possible news for rape survivors," said TLAC senior researcher Lisa Vetten.
"Our research shows that the work of the FCS detectives is far superior to that of ordinary detectives. "They make 20 percent more arrests and have 20 percent fewer of their cases withdrawn at court," Vetten said.
She said cases investigated by specialised unit detectives were "more than twice" as likely to go to trial and result in convictions than those investigated by ordinary detectives.
Sharing Vetten's sentiments was Shereen Mills of the Centre of Applied Legal Studies and Marieta de Vos of Mosaic in the Western Cape. "Mosaic has seen the positive support provided to survivors of sexual violence in the Western Cape where the FCS units were not disbanded as in other provinces.
"At the Simelela Centre in Khayelitsha there was excellent co-ordination with the FCS staff members and more charges were brought as a result," said Vos.
The organisations said the quality of police services and investigations had declined since the centralised FCS units were disbanded and sent to stations in 2006.
Also urging the government to re-introduce FCS centres was Angelino Pino of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
"A strong conviction existed that specialised units have a pivotal role to play in the societal and State response to violence against women," Pino said.
The five organisations also urged the minister to "develop a comprehensive approach to the policing of sexual offences that would include consideration of recruitment, training and management of the FCS units" . They also called for a dedicated budget for the specialised units. — Sapa
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
