Walking Through Front Doors : Seeking justice for a stolen childhood

A memoir like no other – Claudine Shiels and her sister Lisa van der Merwe have brought South Africa’s oldest sexual abuse case to court, lodged in April 2018 The sisters used the Frankel 8 Criminal Procedures decision to bring court action against their sexually abusive step-uncles– this is their story The case is ongoing. In 2021 the laws governing sexual offences were challenged in the High Court, which was won. The defence appealed and in May 2024 the appeal was lost with costs The perpetrators have applied to ConCourt. It remains to be seen if the application will be accepted or rejected The case is now 50 years old