A Bridgetown activist is advocating to have sexual offenders named before they plead in court.
The Women's Legal Centre is arguing for the right to name accused sex offenders before they enter a plea, in a case being heard at the Cape High Court on Tuesday, March 3.
The centre represents Caroline Peters, founder and executive director of the Callas Foundation, a community-based non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing gender justice and supporting survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).
Ms Peters told the CapeTowner that she was anxious about the court proceedings and that she did not realise that her name would be said so often in court.
"I understand that the court is doing its job to interrogate because when they say Ms Peters, I want to reply, but I know the Women's Legal Centre's got my back," she said.
Judge Andre Le Grange put various scenarios to advocate Ashleigh Christians, for the centre, who is challenging Section 154(2)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which prohibits the publication of any information that reveals the identity of a person accused of a sexual offence, like rape or extortion, before they have pleaded to the charges in court.
According to the centre's spokeswoman, Monieba Abrahams, Ms Peters publicly identified a man accused of rape by posting his name on social media after he appeared in Wynberg Magistrate's Court. At the time, the accused had not yet pleaded to a sexual offence charge.
Ms Peters was supporting a rape complainant when she attended court. The accused in the case, thereafter laid criminal charges against Ms Peters for contravening section 154(2)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act.
This prohibition is only applicable to cases of sexual offences and extortion, and not to any other offences.
"This distinction unjustifiably violates sections 16(1)(a) and/or (b) of the constitution, freedom of expression, and constitutes indirect discrimination against women, who are primarily the victims of sexual violence, thus violating sections 9 (1), (2), and (3) of the Constitution, the right to equality," said Ms Abrahams.
Judge Le Grange said that, according to the criminal justice system, an accused is innocent until proven guilty.
"What happens if the person is falsely accused and the charges are withdrawn? It can cause irreparable harm," he said.
"What happens if the accused is found innocent?"
Ms Christians said that the legislation sought to protect the reputation of the accused and that, like with other crimes, the accused could be named once they were charged.
Alongside the court-focused advocacy, the WLC is running a public campaign to activate participation through the Nxme Him digital intervention, described as a "civil disobedience AI".
The tool enables women to symbolically name accused sexual offenders using an uncrackable emoji code.
Ms Abrahams said it drew attention to the absurdity of a legal framework that criminalises women for naming accused rapists while broader criminal naming remains permissible.
"This symbolic action is coupled with an ongoing public petition on Change.org calling for the repeal of section 154(2)(b)," she said.
The court case was postponed to tomorrow, Wednesday, March 4.
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