Protection orders have, until now, been granted to people in "domestic relationships" which, according to The Domestic Violence Act, include marriage, a romantic relationship, or parents of a child or people who share the same residence. Now the magistrate extended the definition in this case to include teachers who have a parental responsibility over children at school.
A Gauteng magistrate last week granted a protection order to a pupil who alleged her teacher harassed, intimidated and physically and sexually abused her. The pupil reported an alleged rape to the police late last year and the Gauteng education department placed the teacher on precautionary suspension. "Since then, the teacher has attempted, through harassment and intimidation, to force the learner and her family not to pursue the case," Nikki Stein, an attorney from human rights group SECTION27, which represented the child, said.
Stein added that the magistrate held that the definition of 'domestic relationship' in the Domestic Violence Act extends beyond the traditional relationship between husband and wife or parent and child and includes a relationship between a teacher and a pupil. "He accepted SECTION27's argument that a teacher assumes parental responsibility for learners at the school at which he teaches," she said. According to Business Day, SECTION27 is trying to get the order to the Magistrate's Commission so that other magistrates could learn from it.
Read the full article on www.businessday.co.za.
