Criminal law (sexual offences and related matters) amendment act 12 of 2021

On 1 August 2018, the #TotalShutDown movement organised a nationwide protest against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) and handed a list of 24 demands to the government. One of these demands was for a national GBVF Summit which was held in November later that year. At the Summit, the President made many promises, one of which was to update several existing laws and policies relating to GBVF to better protect survivors and increase their access to justice. In late 2019, the country erupted in protests once more, calling for a state of emergency. Soon after, in April 2020, the National Strategic Plan on GBVF was published and three important GBVF bills were released for public comment, namely the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill. In the year that followed, the Bills were introduced to Parliament and underwent three rounds of changes, each time calling for comments from the public. In September 2021, Parliament passed the Bills were passed and sent to the President for assent. In January 2022, President Ramaphosa signed all these Bills into law. This document focuses on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 13 of 2021.