Maseru, Nov. 25 — Although Lesotho has launched 16 days of activism against gender based violence, the Minister of Gender, Youth and Social Development Mr. Pitso Lesaoana says the Ministry is still faced with a number of challenges that hinder amendment to the Counter Domestic Violence Act (CDVA), 2022.
This, he said in the National Assembly on Tuesday, clarifying that CDVA seeks to put victims of abuse at the centre, in alignment with developing global corrective or restorative justice as opposed to traditional punitive justice.
However, he said there are conflicting matters , indicating that CDVA provides for options of fines on conviction, contrarily , the Sexual Offences Act (SOA), 2003 does not, indicating that the latter provides for imprisonment only, while CDVA- section 28 (2) provides for both imprisonment and monetary fines.
He added that section 32 (a)(iii) of SOA provides for the death penalty upon conviction of a sexual offence by HIV infected perpetrator while CDVA provides for a life sentence upon conviction of a sexual offence by HIV infected perpetrator. . .
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