Chronicle EditorHeather Charema Mash West Correspondent
A regional magistrate in Mashonaland West has called for criminal courts to consider the gender of the intermediary who represents a child or vulnerable witnesses to save them from embarrassment when relating explicit details of rape as required by the courts.
Presenting a paper on Capacity Building of Intermediary in Victim Friendly Courts, Mr Amos Mbobo said research had shown that it was important to consider the sexuality of an intermediary to accommodate juveniles and vulnerable witnesses even though it was not mentioned in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
“While the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act does not mention that the intermediary must be of the same sex as the vulnerable witness, experience has shown that this is the most ideal situation. Those responsible for physically allocating cases and courts must be aware of the embarrassment likely to be felt by a little girl when relating the detailed description of penetration of rape required by a court of law,” he said.
Mr Mbobo said the embarrassment could intensify when evidence was presented before an exclusively male audience.
“Such embarrassment can only be exacerbated when evidence is before an exclusively male audience because the discussion of intimate sexual matters in the presence of members of the opposite sex is normally taboo. The absence of a female listener means the female witness, who has been sexually abused lacks substantial sympathetic support,” he said.
“No male person can possibly understand the feelings of a female victim and it is thought that this affects more young female victims.”
Mr Mbobo said there was need to allocate duties, taking into account the sex of the victim and match them accordingly. He said the intermediaries should also be able to interpret and not just translate.
“There is need for proper allocation of duties, taking into account the sex of the victim and match them accordingly. It is important to note that most, if not all intermediaries are interpreters, must be very good at interpreting not necessarily translation. Interpreting requires good command of English and understanding of local language with level of honesty and impartiality,” said Mr Mbobo.
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