South Africa: Raped At 10, Assaulted At 15, Then Harassed in the Police Station While Laying Charges

"Her friends at boarding school keep asking why she's crying and fighting with someone in her sleep," a mother in Klapmuts, near Stellenbosch, says, describing her daughter's constant nightmares.

Her daughter, Thembi*, was raped at the age of ten. In February this year, aged 15, she was sexually assaulted. The day after the assault, when her mother took Thembi to the police to open a case, the child was harassed inside Klapmuts police station by a member of the public.

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