BRENDA MADUMISE | SCA rape judgment underlines a woman’s right to bodily integrity in sexual matters

Court correctly ruled consent to 'foreplay does not constitute consent for sex'

01 May 2024 - 09:40 By BRENDA MADUMISE

It is a woman’s fundamental right to decide how to use her body, and with whom she wishes to share it.

The S v Coko judgment, delivered by acting judge Tembeka Ngcukaitobi and judge Nyameko Gqamana in October 2021 in the Eastern Cape High Court, had many dangerous aspects, but chief among them was the notion that, once a person has acquiesced to being kissed by a partner, this act amounts to consent to any sexual encounter that ensues, despite that person’s protestations to the contrary. Any “no” or “stop” was seen by the court as irrelevant...

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