Latest news with #CarolinePeters
Eyewitness News
12-06-2025
- Eyewitness News
GBV activist alarmed by sexual harassment case involving teacher at Mitchells Plain school
CAPE TOWN - Gender-based violence (GBV) activist, Caroline Peters, said the sexual harassment case involving a woman teacher at Harvester Primary School in Westridge, Mitchells Plain was alarming. The teacher is accused of sending inappropriate text messages, as well as explicit images and videos of herself, to a Grade 7 pupil. Both the police and the provincial education department are probing the matter. It's reported that the teacher and the schoolboy started interacting on social network platform TikTok, before moving communication to WhatsApp. Peters said that she welcomed the steps taken by both the police and the education department. "We must be absolutely clear this is not a case of inappropriate messaging, this is grooming, digital sexual exploitation and an abuse of both power and trust. The fact that the contact began via TikTok and then moved to WhatsApp shows how vulnerable our children are in online spaces, and how quickly exploitation can happen even by those who are meant to protect them."
Eyewitness News
24-05-2025
- Eyewitness News
Sexual assault cases see spike in first quarter of 2025, reveal statistics
CAPE TOWN - While the country has seen a quarterly decrease in sexual assault cases, annual reports show an increase. For this quarter, 13,452 sexual offence cases were recorded, a slight increase from the same quarter in the previous year. This is also the case with recorded rape cases, which now stand at 10,688, an increase from 2024 numbers in the same period. ALSO READ: Despite decrease in reported rape cases in Q4 crime stats, gender activists want urgent intervention to end GBV The director of the Callas Foundation, Caroline Peters, said every number is a person and a life that has been affected. 'These are not just numbers, these are our daughters, our sisters, our mothers, our children being harmed, often in their homes and often by people they know.' Peters said the new statistics are alarming. 'So, while national figures for murder and assault may have dipped slightly, the daily reality remains brutal - guns, gangs, and harmful gender norms continue to devastate our communities.'
Eyewitness News
23-05-2025
- Eyewitness News
Despite decrease in reported rape cases in Q4 crime stats, gender activists want urgent intervention to end GBV
CAPE TOWN - The latest crime stats show a slight decrease in reported rape cases as compared to the previous quarter. According to police, 10,688 cases of rape were recorded in the country between 1 January and the end of March this year. That's a decrease of 1,115 compared to the last three months of last year. Cases of sexual assault also declined from more than 14,000 last quarter to 13,452 in the first quarter of 2025. While the stats reflect a decrease, gender activists continue calling for urgent intervention to put an end to gender-based violence. Director of the Callas Foundation, Caroline Peters, said that the statistics weren't just numbers. "We need urgent investment in prevention, in protection and justice. GBV is not just a women's issue, it's a crisis of power and we all have a role to play. Let's break the silence and let's act."
