The Structural Exclusion of Rape Complainants in South Africa's Criminal Justice System: Justice through Participation

by Jameelah Omar

Overview

Exploring the intricate dynamics surrounding rape complainants within the South African criminal justice system, this book proposes reforms in the approach to participation of victims with the aim of mitigating the structural barriers imposed by the adversarial process.

Broadening the concept of participation, the book takes a comprehensive view of meaningful participation at every stage of the legal process and argues that participation can further justice for rape victims. In doing so, it highlights that justice as an outcome of the criminal process should not solely be focused on convicting perpetrators, but about restoring the dignity of and empowering victims. Through the practical proposals included in the book to integrate complainants into the criminal process, readers will gain an understanding of what is possible even within the structures of the adversarial system, and activists both within and outside the system will be better equipped to advocate for systemic change.

The Structural Exclusion of Rape Complainants in South Africa’s Criminal Justice System will be of value to students and scholars of socio-legal studies, criminal law, and criminology, particularly those focused on sexual offences, victimology, and the criminal justice system. It will also be of interest to those working with victims, such as NGOs providing legal representation, victim support and therapeutic counselling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040434291
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/09/2025
Series:	Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	194
File size:	849 KB

About the Author

Jameelah Omar is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She has an LLB, LLM, and PhD in Law from UCT.
Omar joined UCT as a Lecturer in 2015. Her research and teaching centres on Criminal Justice, specifically in the areas of Sexual Offences, Criminal Procedure
and doctrinal Criminal Law. She also convenes and facilitates the UCT Law Community Service programme, which requires students to perform legally oriented
volunteer work as a degree requirement. Omar’s doctoral work focused on the rights of rape complainants within the structure of South Africa’s adversarial
legal system. She is an associate member of the Centre for Law and Society at UCT where she heads the Sexual Violence programme, and she is a Trustee on
the Board for the Women’s Legal Centre Trust. She has appeared as an expert witness in court cases as an expert on sexual violence. Prior to joining UCT, she
was an attorney at the Centre of Legal Studies (CALS) based at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The concept of participation for complainants in the criminal justice system Chapter 3 Participation to further justice in the criminal process Chapter 4 The focus on rape complainants Chapter 5 Arguments against complainant participation Chapter 6 The structural exclusion of rape complainants in an adversarial system like South Africa Chapter 7 Current opportunities for participation: Law and policy in South Africa Chapter 8 Lessons from foreign and international jurisdictions Chapter 9 Proposals for increased complainant participation in South Africa Chapter 10 Conclusion