Oprah case highlights abuse in South Africa

Alleged sexual assault at Oprah Winfrey's new girls' school sparks fresh discussion about the widespread problem.

from the November 8, 2007 edition

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Fairouz Nagia-Luddy, the project coordinator for the domestic violence project of the Western Cape-based Gender Advocacy Programme, says that many girls never report sexual abuse because of cultural pressures.

"The problem is the silence around it," she says. Until Oprah, she says, few famous figures have addressed sexual abuse publicly. "It's important to create awareness at all levels," she says. "Role models coming up and speaking about it is one way of doing it."

Many girls are afraid to report encounters

Students abused by teachers are often loath to report the crimes for fear of retaliation, advocates say.

In addition to the problem of girls being afraid to report abuse, a 2001 Human Rights Watch report documented widespread incompetence when it came to following up on girls' complaints. The report found "a great deal of confusion over responsibility for resolving problems and repeatedly encountered breaks in the chain of communication between school officials, police, and prosecutors, with all actors shifting responsibility and sexually abused girls getting lost in the shuffle."

In a new study that Jewkes is working on, she says a close review of thousands of police rape files also shows consistent investigative lapses – investigators losing track of a victim because they never asked for her phone number or address, for instance.

"The patterns of failures of policing are incredible and they are repetitive," she says. "A lot of cases fall down because very basic things aren't done."

These won't be issues in the Leadership Academy case, Winfrey says.

"It is one of my goals in life to put child abusers, whether they be in my home, whether they be in my workplace, or, in this case, in the Academy, to put them where they belong," she said. "And that is behind bars."

Earlier this week Makopo appeared in the Sebokeng Magistrate's court south of Johannesburg and heard the charges against her – indecent assault, common assault, soliciting a minor to perform indecent acts, and verbal abuse. She told the court she intended to plead not guilty.

• Scott Baldauf contributed to this report.

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