Unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in relation to the decriminalisation of underage consensual sex in South Africa

Over the past 24 years, the South African criminal justice system has undergone major transformations in relation to sexual offences, including sexual violence against children. More recently, there have been a number of developments to certain provisions in the law relating to sexual offences involving children. In response to the Teddy Bear Clinic Court Case and Constitutional Court ruling, sexual offences legislation related to underage consensual sex was amended. In this regard, the legislation now decriminalises underage consensual sexual activity between adolescent peers aged 12 - 15-year-olds. In addition, the law provides broader definitions for consensual sexual activity, including decriminalising consensual sex and sexual activity between older adolescents (above age of consent for sex, i.e. 16 - 17-year-olds) and younger adolescents (below the age of consent for sex, i.e. 12 - 15-year-olds), granted that there is no more than a 2-year age gap between them. One of the reasons for decriminalising consensual sexual activities between adolescent peers was because the expanded legislation cast the net for sexual offences so wide that the effects had far-reaching harmful impacts, particularly for girls, who would then be exposed to the criminal justice system. This paper focuses on unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in SA legislation relative to selected better-resourced countries, including the rationale and the potential implications for adolescents (outside of the 2-year age gap provisions), for researchers, service providers and policy-makers. It concludes with some recommendations for law reform and further research

Child consent in South African law: Implications for researchers, service providers and policy-makers

Children under 18 are legal minors who, in South African law, are not fully capable of acting independently without assistance from parents/legal guardians. However, in recognition of the evolving capacity of children, there are exceptional circumstances where the law has granted minorsthe capacity to act independently. We describe legal norms for child consent to health-related interventions in South Africa, and argue that the South African Parliament has taken an inconsistent approach to: the capacity of children to consent; the persons able to consent when children do not have capacity; and restrictions on the autonomy of children or theirproxies to consent. In addition, the rationale for the differing age limitations, capacity requirements and public policy restrictions has not been specified. These inconsistencies make it difficult for stakeholders interacting with children to ensure that they act lawfully

Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act dealing with consensual underage sex: Implications for doctors and researchers

In terms of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act, consensual sex or sexual activity with children aged 12 - 15 was a crime, and as such had to be reported to the police. This was challenged in court in the Teddy Bear case, which held that it was unconstitutional and caused more harm than good. In June 2015, the Amendment Act was accepted by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, and came into operation on 3 July 2015. This article looks at the amendments to sections 15 and 16 of the Act and what the reporting obligations for medical professionals and researchers are in light of the amendments, as well as the duty to provide medical services and advice to adolescents

HIV prevention responsibilities in HIV vaccine trials: Complexities facing South African researchers

Researchers should protect the welfare of research participants through providing methods to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV. This is especially important given that latephase HIV vaccine trials enrol HIV-uninfected trial volunteers from high-risk populations.Current ethical guidelines may be difficult for stakeholders toimplement, and we know very little about what prevention services researchers are currently providing to participants or their successes, best practices and challenges. We recommend that current normative guidance be systematically reviewed and actual practice at vaccine sites be documented. Adding new tools to the current package of prevention services will involve complex decision making with fewset standards, and regulatory and scientific challenges. Werecommend that stakeholders (including regulators) convene to consider standards of evidence for new tools, and that decision-making processes be explicitly documented and researched. A further critical ethical task is exploring the threshold at which adding new tools will compromise thevalidity of trial results

Compensation for research-related injury in South Africa: A critique of the good clinical practice (GCP) guidelines

This article examines the current South African Department of Health Good Clinical Practice (2006) guideline recommendations regarding compensation for harm incurred in clinical trials. It applies the case of a phase IIb HIV vaccine trial in South Africa, for which enrolments and vaccinations were suspended early, based on data from an international companion study that indicated no evidence of efficacy and greater susceptibility to HIV infection in a subgroup of vaccinees. The case application indicates certain substantive and procedural limitations within the South African Department of Health Good Clinical Practice (2006) guideline recommendations on compensation for harm, which should be re-considered in order to improve protections for trial participants

Complex Rotational Modulation of Rapidly Rotating M Stars Observed with <i>TESS</i>

We have searched for short periodicities in the light curves of stars with T eff cooler than 4000 K made from 2-minute cadence data obtained in Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite sectors 1 and 2. Herein we report the discovery of 10 rapidly rotating M dwarfs with highly structured rotational modulation patterns among 371 M dwarfs found to have rotation periods less than 1 day. Starspot models cannot explain the highly structured periodic variations that typically exhibit between 10 and 40 Fourier harmonics. A similar set of objects was previously reported following K2 observations of the Upper Scorpius association. We examine the possibility that the unusual structured light curves could stem from absorption by charged dust particles that are trapped in or near the stellar magnetosphere. We also briefly explore the possibilities that the sharp structured features in the light curves are produced by extinction by coronal gas, by beaming of the radiation emitted from the stellar surface, or by occultations of spots by a dusty ring that surrounds the star. The last is perhaps the most promising of these scenarios. Most of the structured rotators display flaring activity, and we investigate changes in the modulation pattern following the largest flares. As part of this study, we also report the discovery of 17 rapidly rotating M dwarfs with rotational periods below 4 hr, of which the shortest period is 1.63 hr

Healthcare workers’ beliefs, motivations and behaviours affecting adequate provision of sexual and reproductive healthcare services to adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Adolescents’ sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) needs have been prioritized globally, and they have the rights to access and utilize SRH services for their needs. However, adolescents under-utilize SRH services, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Many factors play a role in the under-utilization of SRH services by adolescents, such as the attitude and behaviour of healthcare workers. The aim of this study therefore, was to explore and gain an in-depth understanding of healthcare workers’ beliefs, motivations and behaviours affecting adequate provision of these services to adolescents in South Africa. METHODS: Twenty-four healthcare workers in public SRH services in Cape Town, South Africa participated in this qualitative study through focus group discussions. To fulfill the aims of this study, nine focus group discussions were conducted among the SRH nurses. RESULTS: SRH nurses indicated that they are experiencing challenges with the concept and practice of termination of pregnancy. They explained that this practice contradicted their opposing beliefs and values. Some nurses felt that they had insufficient SRH skills, which hinder their provision of adequate SRH services to adolescents, while others described constraints within the health system such as not enough time to provide the necessary care. They also explained having limited access to schools where they can provide SRH education and pregnancy prevention services in the surrounding area. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses are faced with numerous challenges when providing SRH services to adolescents. Providing the nurses with training programmes that emphasize value clarification may help them to separate their personal beliefs and norms from the workplace practice. This may help them to focus on the needs of the adolescent in a way that is beneficial to them. At the health systems level, issues such as clinic operating hours need to be structured such that the time pressure and constraints upon the nurse is relieved

Informed consent for HIV cure research in South Africa: issues to consider

Background: South Africa has made great progress in the development of HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and prevention campaigns. Yet, it is clear that prevention and treatment campaigns alone are not enough to bring this epidemic under control. Discussion: News that the “Berlin patient” and the “Mississippi baby” have both been “cured” of HIV brought hope to people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa that a cure for HIV/AIDS is within reach. Despite the recent setbacks announced in the “Mississippi Baby” case, protocols aimed at curing HIV/AIDS are being developed in South Africa. However with evidence to suggest that participants in clinical trials do not understand the basic concepts in the informed consent process, there is concern that future participants in HIV/AIDS cure research will lack comprehension of the basic elements of future clinical trials that aims to cure HIV/AIDS and confuse research with clinical care. Summary: Research ethics committees have an important role to play in ensuring that participants understand the basic concepts discussed in the informed consent process, that they understand that research is not clinical care and they are unlikely to benefit from any early phase trials seeking to cure HIV/AIDS

A super-Earth and a sub-Neptune orbiting the bright, quiet M3 dwarf TOI-1266

We report the discovery and characterisation of a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting the bright ($K=8.8$), quiet, and nearby (37 pc) M3V dwarf TOI-1266. We validate the planetary nature of TOI-1266 b and c using four sectors of TESS photometry and data from the newly-commissioned 1-m SAINT-EX telescope located in San Pedro M\'artir (Mexico). We also include additional ground-based follow-up photometry as well as high-resolution spectroscopy and high-angular imaging observations. The inner, larger planet has a radius of $R=2.37_{-0.12}^{+0.16}$ R$_{\oplus}$ and an orbital period of 10.9 days. The outer, smaller planet has a radius of $R=1.56_{-0.13}^{+0.15}$ R$_{\oplus}$ on an 18.8-day orbit. The data are found to be consistent with circular, co-planar and stable orbits that are weakly influenced by the 2:1 mean motion resonance. Our TTV analysis of the combined dataset enables model-independent constraints on the masses and eccentricities of the planets. We find planetary masses of $M_\mathrm{p}$ = $13.5_{-9.0}^{+11.0}$ $\mathrm{M_{\oplus}}$ ($<36.8$ $\mathrm{M_{\oplus}}$ at 2-$\sigma$) for TOI-1266 b and $2.2_{-1.5}^{+2.0}$ $\mathrm{M_{\oplus}}$ ($<5.7$ $\mathrm{M_{\oplus}}$ at 2-$\sigma$) for TOI-1266 c. We find small but non-zero orbital eccentricities of $0.09_{-0.05}^{+0.06}$ ($<0.21$ at 2-$\sigma$) for TOI-1266 b and $0.04\pm0.03$ ($<0.10$ at 2-$\sigma$) for TOI-1266 c. The equilibrium temperatures of both planets are of $413\pm20$ K and $344\pm16$ K, respectively, assuming a null Bond albedo and uniform heat redistribution from the day-side to the night-side hemisphere. The host brightness and negligible activity combined with the planetary system architecture and favourable planet-to-star radii ratios makes TOI-1266 an exquisite system for a detailed characterisation