Stop the sugarcoating: It’s not sexual misconduct by teachers, it’s rape

It’s time to call “sexual misconduct” by teachers what is really is: rape or statutory rape, says an expert.

Victimologist Professor Jaco Barkhuizen said the fact that so many teachers were starting sexual victimisation should worry every parent.

“Let’s not call it sexual misconduct and call it what it is: rape or statutory rape. Teachers, like police, nurses and doctors, are considered trusted individuals. We place our trust in them to educate our children,” he said.

Barkhuizen said allegations against teachers fundamentally broke the trust in them.

“If a teacher is found guilty of any sexual misconduct, they should be placed on the national sex offender register,” he said.

Sexual abuse ‘hard to eradicate’

South African Teachers’ Union spokesperson Stefan van der Berg said sexual abuse in schools, regardless of the nature or severity of such abuse cases, was a blight plaguing the education sector for far too long.

“Unfortunately, much like corruption, it is a blight that is very hard to eradicate. Nonetheless, we should not be disheartened. We must continue to fulfil our moral and legal obligations to protect pupils and teachers from this blight by rooting it out and reporting the abuse,” he said.

Van der Berg warned people should be mindful of cases of false accusations.

“In these uncommon, but not rare, occurrences, children are sometimes used as weapons in squabbles between adults, resulting in false accusations being made.

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“Due process ensures every accused has a fair opportunity to defend themselves,” he said.

“By implementing the existing disciplinary steps efficiently and fairly, the provincial departments of education will minimise the trauma inflicted on the victims by an unnecessarily protracted process and free up resources caused by long suspensions, still affording the accused their rights to fair labour practices.”

Fewer consequences

Criminologist Dr Witness Maluleke said the schooling system was in disarray.

Maluleke said sexual abuse has been occurring for a long time with fewer consequences.

“The contributory factors to this practice, consequences of actions displayed by responsible teachers and determining measures to effectively address and investigate this scourge are lacking in South Africa,” he said.

Maluleke said it was problematic that the department of basic education, the police and other stakeholders were working in isolation in keeping records.

“Placing the alleged teachers on suspension cannot better this situation, as child sexual abuse, misconduct, transgressions and irregularities are on the rise and this is not a new problem,” he said.

Gauteng department of education spokesperson Steve Mabona said they didn’t have teachers with pending sexual misconduct cases teaching pupils, despite Gau-teng MEC for education Matome Chiloane admitting 86 teachers were still on the job.

“It is important to put a perspective on the 173 teachers reported with allegations of sexual misconduct in the last five years,” Mabona said.

“Out of this number, 87 were dismissed after disciplinary processes were conducted. The remaining 86 accused were found not guilty and, in other cases, those who were found guilty, sanctions short of dismissal were imposed, such as a written warning or three months without pay.”

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He said an insinuation that pupils were unsafe and schools were not supporting parents was unfortunate.

“Parents are always advised to open criminal cases with the police. Our psycho-social team always give support to pupils,” he said.

Khume Ramulifho, Democratic Alliance Gauteng shadow MEC for education, said a total of 173 allegations of sexual misconduct were reported against teachers in the past five years.

Ramulifho said of the 173 allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers, 29 teachers were placed on precautionary suspension, while six teachers were currently serving precautionary suspensions.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za