More than 40 years of apartheid have brutalized society in South Africa, experts say. Changing such complacent attitudes is one priority of anti-rape activists who also campaign for better education to debrutalize society and give more support for victims in the legal system. Inefficiency and a lack of awareness by the police adds to victims' trauma rather than helping defuse it, POWA says. A lack of private facilities to give testimony at police stations was another oft-cited problem. Many victims have to tell their story to a whole room full of policemen.
Police also lack advanced forensic testing methods and identification rooms.
Once charges are laid it can still be an uphill struggle to get a conviction in South Africa's overburdened justice system. The often criticised generous granting of bail enrages many victims who see the alleged rapists back on the streets a few days later. Another bone of contention is leniency of the sentences many rapists get away with, leading to demands for a minimum sentence which the South African government is currently considering, Justice Minister Omar said. But they can learn to cope with it depending on their personal history.