When Protection Hurts: How South Africa’s Mandatory Reporting Laws Are Failing Adolescent Girls

When Protection Hurts: How South Africa’s Mandatory Reporting Laws Are Failing Adolescent Girls

In a country where laws were written to protect the young and vulnerable, experts are now warning that those same rules may be deepening the harm for the very girls they aim to defend.

At a recent sitting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, leading academics and gender justice advocates urged lawmakers to rethink South Africa’s mandatory reporting lawsparticularly those related to statutory rape. Their message was clear: the system is broken, and it’s punishing children instead of protecting them.

A law built to protect, but poorly applied

The Sexual Offences Act allows consensual sexual activity between adolescents aged 13 to 15, provided the age gap is no more than two years. Yet, in practice, this nuance is being lost.

According to Professor Catriona Ida Macleod from Rhodes University, many teachers, nurses, and health workers misinterpret all underage sexual activity as criminal even when it falls within legal boundaries.

That misinterpretation has devastating consequences. “A 15-year-old girl in a consensual relationship with her 17-year-old boyfriend can be falsely reported as a rape victim,” Macleod explained. “The result is that teenagers avoid healthcare services altogether, they’re too scared of being reported to the police.”

In rural areas, this fear has translated into late pregnancy reporting, unsafe abortions, and rising HIV infections, as young girls avoid clinics out of mistrust or shame.

Poverty and silence

Macleod, who was speaking on behalf of the Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction Unit and the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition, also highlighted a darker truth behind the statistics: poverty often drives teenage relationships.

“In many poor communities, transactional sex becomes a means of survival. Reporting such a relationship could mean cutting off financial support for an entire family,” she said.

This is why many girls stay silent, not because they want to, but because they can’t afford not to.

Instead of blanket criminalisation, Macleod is calling for a shift in focus toward perpetrators, along with community-based education, better implementation of the Sexual Offences Act, and sexual rights education that actually empowers teenagers rather than frightens them.

A national crisis hiding in plain sight

Adding to the urgency of the discussion, Dr Janine Hicks from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Law told Parliament that South Africa is facing a national crisis of child sexual violence one that is being obscured by language and bureaucracy.

By referring to cases of pregnancy in girls under 16 as merely “teenage pregnancy,” Hicks argued, the state fails to recognise them as potential sexual offences.

She cited Statistics South Africa data showing that sexual assaults against children under 17 occur at double the national rate, 20 per 100,000 children compared to 10 per 100,000 adults. Even more troubling, half of these assaults are committed by someone the victim knows.

“The state’s fragmented systems, from health to education and justice are failing to communicate with each other,” Hicks said. “Many cases only come to light once a girl becomes visibly pregnant, and even then, attention focuses on the pregnancy, not the crime.”

Cultural contradictions and systemic failure

Hicks went further, pointing out the gaps in coordination between departments, the lack of training among teachers and police, and the absence of clear guidelines for professionals who are required to report abuse.

She also raised concern over abuse committed by teachers themselves a chilling reality in some schools and urged Parliament to confront harmful cultural practices such as ukuthwala (the abduction of young girls for marriage) and the payment of “damages” to families for impregnating minors.

“These customs, framed as culture, are often a cover for exploitation,” Hicks said. “It’s time for accountability that puts children’s rights first.”

The bigger picture: balancing protection and autonomy

What this debate ultimately reveals is a painful paradox, the line between protection and punishment has blurred.

South Africa’s laws were drafted with noble intentions: to shield children from abuse and exploitation. But without proper understanding, training, and coordination, those same laws are now driving teenagers especially girls further into isolation, silence, and danger.

Online, the reaction has been fierce. Activists, educators, and parents have taken to social media demanding clarity and reform, with many echoing the call for a more compassionate, context-aware approach to youth sexuality and reproductive health.

As one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote:

“We can’t keep saying we’re protecting children when our systems make them too afraid to ask for help.”

What comes next

The parliamentary committee is expected to issue formal recommendations to the departments of Health, Basic Education, Justice, and Social Development.

But beyond policy, this moment demands reflection on how South Africa treats its girls, how it talks about consent and care, and how the state can uphold both protection and dignity.

Because when laws meant to help end up hurting, it’s not just a legal failure, it’s a national one.

{Source: The Citizen}

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