September 30, 2020

Why accused child sex offenders should not be named

MMA in the media
By Yinhla Ngobeni 78 Comments

29 September 2020, CAPETALK, Barbara Friedman

William Bird of Media Monitoring Africa talks to Lester Kiewit about the dangers of naming child sex offenders as it causes secondary trauma to the young victims.

“He was named by his political party. And some of the media I have engaged said oh we thought it was OK because he had been named in a formal statement by the ANC. The opposition then also revealed his name…and it is all on social media.”

William Bird, Director – Media Monitoring Africa

“Just because someone else does it first doesn’t mean you should do it and it is against the law. But it is also an egregious violation of those small people’s lives and exposed them to significant secondary trauma.”

William Bird, Director – Media Monitoring Africa

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