A sex offenders’ register is also being considered.
Cabinet has approved amendments to the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act to introduce stiff penalties for perpetrators of
sexual violence.
Rapists will be sentenced to life imprisonment or “any
definite period of imprisonment of not less than 15 years”.
Presently, the criminal code does not provide for a
mandatory sentence for rape or aggravated indecent assault, which is defined as
the sexual penetration of a victim, including men, without consent.
Official data shows an average 22 women filed rape cases
daily between January 2020 and December 2021.
Police also claim more than 16 000 cases of rape were
reported in the two years to December 2021, with 7 377 and 8 715 women
reporting in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act considers
performing sexual or anal intercourse with a female person without her consent
as rape.
As part of the ongoing reform programme, the authorities
are considering raising the statute of limitations — the time limit for filing
charges against an alleged offender — for sexual offences to 40 years.
Section 23 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act
presently sets the prescriptive period for reporting offences such as rape at
20 years.
Plans are underway to set up a sex offenders’ register to
monitor and control ex-convicts upon release from prison.
The Legal Aid Directorate in the Ministry of Justice, Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs is being capacitated to provide free legal
representation to those accused of rape and other offences to guard against
substantial legal injustices such as wrongful convictions.
“Section 65 (“Rape”) (4) of the principal Act is amended by
the repeal of paragraph (b) and the substitution of – (b) he knows that she has
not consented to it or realises that there is a real risk or possibility that
she may not have consented to it; shall be guilty of rape and liable to – if
the crime was committed in aggravating circumstances, to life imprisonment or
any definite period of imprisonment of not less than fifteen years; or if there
are no aggravating circumstances, to life imprisonment or imprisonment for a
period of not more than 15 years,” reads the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Bill exclusively obtained by The Sunday Mail.
Section 66 of the same Act will also be amended to provide
for a 15-year mandatory sentence for aggravated indecent assault.
“For the avoidance of doubt if — the crime was committed in
aggravating circumstances as described in Section 65 (2), the convicted person
shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or any definite period of imprisonment
of not less than fifteen years; or there are no aggravating circumstances, to
life imprisonment or imprisonment for a period of not more than 15 years,” it
adds.
In coming up with the new penalties, the authorities
initially considered much stiffer mandatory penalties of up to 60 years but
settled on a mandatory sentence less severe than those imposed on murderers.
In a ministerial statement to Parliament earlier this year,
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said a less
severe penalty would deter the rapist from murdering their victim.
“The ministry acknowledges that the sentence for rape and
sexual offences must fully reflect the depravity and seriousness of the crime,”
said Minister Ziyambi.
“The idea of mandatory minimum sentences is to punish the
offender sufficiently before they are brought back into mainstream society.”
Mandatory sentences, he added, were supposed to deter
criminals and repeat offenders.
“The level of such a mandatory sentence must not, however,
be the same as the mandatory sentence for murder in aggravating circumstances
because the rapist might then be motivated to murder his victim after he has
raped her.”
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child
Care chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode, welcomed the proposed amendments.
“It is a welcome move, but we need to ensure that girls can
access contraceptives, and we must not allow a nine-year-old to carry a
pregnancy to full term. Such pregnancies must be terminated,” she said.
The Padare/Enkundleni Men’s Forum acting director
(programmes development and fundraising manager), Dr Thando Makubaza, said
deterrent penalties will send a clear message to would-be offenders.
“As Padare, we have zero tolerance for rapists. We do not
believe that a rapist is a person who deserves forgiveness or a light
sentence,” said Dr Makubaza.
“Right now, rapists are getting lighter sentences compared
to those convicted of stock theft, and that is why you see cases of rape
escalating.
“People are just doing what they want because the law is
not stiff.
“There is nothing to scare people from committing this
crime,” she said.
“The mandatory sentence should actually start from 20 years
to life so that people can think twice before committing the crime.”
Once the Bill is passed into law, Zimbabwe will join
several other African countries that prescribe mandatory sentences for rape.
In South Africa, the Criminal Law Amendment Act provides
for a 10-year mandatory sentence for first offenders, 15 years for repeat
offenders and 20 years for committing the crime for the third time. Sunday Mail
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