© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/15718182-02503002 international journal of children’s rights 25 (2017) 599-621 brill.com/chil THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS Delaying Pre-trial Therapy to Child Victims of Sexual Abuse: An Unfounded Prevailing Culture in South Africa? Daniël F. Fouché Vaal University of Technology, South Africa danielf@vut.ac.za Ansie Fouché North-West University, Optentia, South Africa Ansie.Fouche@nwu.ac.za Abstract Due to the statutory obligation to report child sexual abuse to the authorities, children in South Africa are increasingly called to testify in criminal proceedings. A recent qualitative study found that South African parents and social workers are often ad- vised by legal professionals to postpone pre-trial therapy (therapy provided to child witnesses prior to testimony) until after the child’s testimony, based on concerns that therapy could contaminate the child’s version of events, and might ultimately lead to an acquittal of the accused. In this study, the authors analysed selected authorita- tive documents to explore whether or not any directives exist in respect of the provi- sion of pre-trial therapy to child victims of sexual abuse in South Africa. Our findings suggest that none of the authoritative documents included in our document review specifically mention the rendering of pre-trial therapy to child victims of sexual abuse. Recommendations for policy reform and research are made. Keywords child sexual abuse – pre-trial therapy – best interests of the child Downloaded from Brill.com12/19/2021 11:42:43PM via free access