Africa-Press – Angola. The Public Prosecutor at the District Court of Moxico, Belma João, today, in Luena, discouraged the practice of extrajudicial resolution of cases of sexual abuse against minors.
After addressing “Sexual Crimes in the Angolan Penal Code”, during a provincial conference promoted by students of the Law course, he said that this means of resolution does not protect the victim, nor does it achieve justice and social peace in that the law proposes.
According to the magistrate of the Public Ministry (MP), this procedure is done arbitrarily, advocating greater dissemination of information and increased legal literacy to resolve this phenomenon in society, adding that it is imperative that the child finds a support network within familiar.
“Combating this practice should not be the exclusive task of law enforcers, but of all social authors”, he reinforced.
In the same perspective, lawyer Eliseu Sacoji defended the creation of a protection system for victims of sexual abuse in the country, with a view to allowing an effective fight against this phenomenon within families.
According to the academic, author of the work “Prohibitions of proof and procedural nullities: a study of comparative law between Portugal and Angola”, most cases of sexual crimes against minors, which take place in the family environment, have gone unpunished, due to the lack of of complaints.
“A 14-year-old child who is raped by her father, despite her will, cannot report it, since the rapist is the guarantor of the family’s maintenance,” he maintained.
It is necessary to create conditions for the protection of victims, to avoid illegal negotiations that impede the action of the Public Ministry, he suggested.
According to the sexual crimes typified in the Penal Code (CP), whoever, being of age, takes advantage of the inexperience and naivety of a minor under 16 years of age, will be liable for the crime of sexual abuse of a minor, established in article n.o 193, punishable by prison sentence of one to five years, if there is no penetration, and three to 8 years, if there is penetration.
Under the terms of the aforementioned law consulted by press, in Articles 186 on sexual harassment, anyone who, abusing their authority resulting from a relationship of dominion or work hierarchy, seeks to constrain another person to suffer or perform a sexual act (…) by means of an order , coercion is punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine of up to 360 days.
According to the same law, if the victim is a minor, the penalty is from one to four years in prison.
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