Article here. Excerpt:
'Given that some women will make false rape allegations, shouldn’t the law protect the identity of both the alleged culprit and victim before the courts issue a verdict?
It should, says Dr. Zein Kebonang, a legal expert and former law lecturer at the University of Botswana who is now operations director at Botswana-UPenn Partnership.
It shouldn’t, counters Mpho Mahopolo of Women Against Rape (WAR), a Maun-based NGO.
Kebonang says that once made, the allegation becomes a stigma that attaches itself to the falsely accused for the rest of his life. He suggests that largely has to do with the fact that the court of public opinion is notoriously unforgiving.
“It doesn’t matter whether the court clears you of the charges; in the eyes of the public there will always be lingering doubt. And all it takes is just an accusation. Even if you are cleared before the case reaches court, people would say that you bought the victim off. That is why I feel that it is important to protect the identity of the alleged culprit in the same way that the law protects that of the victim,” he says.
Conversely, Mahopolo does not think that it would be proper to equate the rights of the culprit with those of the victim. Her argument is that if the identity of the alleged culprits was protected, rape cases would skyrocket. The theory she advances is that criminally lustful men would rape with impunity.'
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Ed. Note: The Sunday Standard is published in Botswana.
