LAUSR

abstractThis article considers the position of law as a macro-level intervention into the vulnerability of children to rape or sexual assault as a result of the process of sexual grooming. It situates grooming within the context of the South African narrative of rape, and describes features of the process that are drawn on by South African courts. This article offers a critique of the existing law concerning sexual grooming by examining the different manifestations of the concept in law: first, as a stand-alone statutory offence, second, as a means of establishing lack of consent in the crime of rape or sexual assault, and finally, as a factor when sentencing a person convicted of the rape or sexual assault of a child. While the law may offer some pathways to resilience by having named the offence and created the possibility of legal recourse, the existing shortcomings in the law, combined with its interpretation by the courts in emerging jurisprudence suggest that there are obstacles to it being a singul...