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Reporting Cases of Sexual Offences for University Procedures

Nelson Mandela University's Guidelines for Reporting Cases of Sexual Offences for University Procedures

The taking of a statement is a formal report of circumstances associated with a sexual offence which may be used in an internal disciplinary procedure. The fact that a statement has been taken, however, does not necessarily mean that formal proceedings will follow. This will depend on the wishes of the complainant who will be central to this decision. The statement should be taken in a private room or facility.

Preferably, only the complainant and person taking the statement should be present, but the complainant may wish to have someone present for support. This is allowed as long as that person does not interfere with the process.

The statement should be as comprehensive as possible.

What the statement should contain:

  1. Information from the survivor:
  • Null name
  • Age and date of birth
  • Identity or passport number
  • Affiliation with the university (student number, staff number or third party ID)
  • Residential address
  • Contact numbers
  • E-mail address
  • The date and the time of the offence
  • The relationship between the complainant and the alleged perpetrator.
  1. A description of the events leading up to the incident and details in the survivor’s own words, including:
  • what sexual acts took place (for instance mouth to penis/mouth to vagina/vaginal or anal penetration, etc)
  • whether a condom was used
  • whether the complainant sustained any physical injuries
  • how the complainant was coerced.
  1. The exact words spoken in direct speech/exact language.
  1. How the survivor expressed that they did not consent. Record the fact that the survivor did not consent, even if this is obvious.
  1. A comprehensive description of the case, including, but not limited to, the following:
  • how the alleged perpetrator maintained control of the survivor
  • what, if anything, the alleged perpetrator did to prevent the survivor from running away
  • whether the alleged perpetrator threatened the survivor before, during or after the incident and, if so, what the alleged perpetrator did or said (direct speech/exact language) how the incident ended.