Global Progress Towards Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children
A global problem requires truly global solutions to address the sexual exploitation of children.
Indicators
Age of Consent
Partial
Age of sexual consent is 16 years with a close-in-age exemption of two years.
DH Legal Analysis South Africa, 2020
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
Yes
Active and passive extraterritorial jurisdiction is provided for SEC related offences and does NOT require double criminality.
Extradition requires a minimum gravity of six months of imprisonment and can only take place in the basis of a treaty ratified by South Africa. There is no mention to the double criminality principle for extradition.
DH Legal Analysis South Africa, 2020
CSAM Definition
Yes
The national legislation provides a definition which is in line with international standards.
DH Legal Analysis South Africa, 2020
Background Check Required
Not Yet Assessed
National Commitments
Partial
South Africa has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No.182.
South Africa has also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
South Africa has not ratified the OPIC, the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the AU Convention on Cyber Security and the Council of Europe's Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.
DH Legal Analysis South Africa, 2020
Child Advocacy Centers
Not Yet Assessed
SEC Police Unit
Partial
The main police unit including SEC in its mandate is the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Department which also includes a Cybercrime Unit for offences related to online child sexual exploitation. It is unclear whether both offences under national and extra-territorial jurisdiction are able to be addressed by this unit, and whether the unit is fully functional.
DH Desk-based Research South Africa, 2020
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
Not Yet Assessed
Public SEC Case Data
No
Data on SEC cases is not publicly available.
DH Desk-based Research South Africa, 2020
Age of Consent Law is Appropriate
The age of sexual consent for both males and females is 18 and a close in age exemption (up to 3 years) is provided for consensual sexual relationships between adolescents.
The age of sexual consent is the legally defined age at which a person is considered mature enough to agree to sexual activity. The age of sexual consent varies across jurisdictions around the world and there is no international legal instrument establishing it, however various forms of advocacy have encouraged States to establish a minimum age under which engaging in sexual contact is considered a criminal offence. This is intended to prevent sexual contact with children and to prevent argument that the child consented as a defence.
Often national provisions related to the age of sexual consent include an exception, known as a close-in-age exemption, making consensual sexual activities between young people lawful if the partners are of similar ages and the age difference is not higher than a certain number of years.
To ensure that cases of child sexual exploitation do not go unpunished, ECPAT advocates for the age of sexual consent to be set at 18 for both males and females with a close-in-age exemption of 2-3 years provided in order to ensure young people are not penalised for consensual sexual acts with peers. The age from which the exemption applies should be established by States but may begin for young people somewhere between 12 and 16 years of age.
Yes The national legislation explicitly indicates that the age of sexual consent unequivocally is 18 for both males and females, with a close-in-age exemption for sexual acts between peers (of up to 3 years) is provided by law.