Abstract:
The universalism concept of human rights sees that children should be protected
by all states under International Human Rights Law (IHRL). However, there are
still numbers of violation to the protection of children's right, one of them is Child
Sexual Abuse in Republic of South Africa (SA) which they have the different
perception in seeing their sexual behaviour towards children. The case of SOAC
in SA has violated the Children's Act and Sexual Offences and Related Matters
(SORMA) Act. It is stated that child sexual abuse defined as sexual offences
against children (SOAC). There are thousands of cases which have been reported
through South African Police Service (SAPS), indeed the government has tried to
stop it. Yet, the case is still continued. Moreover, the SA's government has
comprehensive legislation and constitutions, statutory framework in regards to the
protection of children rights. However, South Africa experience difficulty in order
to implement those international laws since the culture of patriarchy is entrenched
in the society. Patriarchy was constructed in the society because their
interpretation over the practice of SOAC which they consider this as not a
violation of crime instead as common norms which was constructed by the
practice of tradition and apartheid which construct patriarchy as the cultural - fault
lines. This showed that the relativism concept of human rights can be seen on how
SA's people see with different perspective over SOAC. In this thesis, the research
methodology that used is qualitative research. The author of this thesis used the
theory of Social Constructivism, Universalism, and Cultural Relativism, and the
concept of state's responsibility to the international human rights law and
patriarchy as the theoretical framework of this thesis.
