4 rights require legal protection by way of international conventions 1 and domestic laws, as South Africa has done in various provisions of our Constitution2 and in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 (the Act). It was rightly stressed in argument, in the light of evidence tendered and admitted in this appeal, that the Act is a vitally important tool in the ongoing fight against this scourge in our society.3 The issue in this appeal is whether, as the high court held, the Act is fatally flawed in consequence of the legislature not having expressly specified the penalties attracted by the commission of the offences set out in chapters 2, 3 and 4 thereof. [2] It is unnecessary to spell out in great detail the consequences of the high court’s judgment on the protection of victims of sexual violence. There are many judgments in which our courts have emphasised the need for the rights of vulnerable people, in particular women and children, to be respected and protected. One of the ways in which that needs to be done is by the effective prosecution of those who infringe those rights. In S & another v Acting Regional Magistrate, Boksburg: Venter & another,4 Mthiyane AJ, speaking of s 69 of the Act, said: ‘Our Constitution sets its face firmly against all violence, and in particular sexual violence against vulnerable children, women and men. Given this, and the Act’s emphasis on dignity, protection against violence against the person, and in particular the protection of women and children, it is inconceivable that the provision could 1 The principal ones to which we were referred by counsel for the first amicus were the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 19) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 16). Counsel for the second amicus referred us principally to articles 4 and 23 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Article 4 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.. 2 Particularly ss 9, 10, 12(2), 28(1)(d) and 28(2) of the Constitution. 3 Since the Act came into operation, there have been over 12 000 convictions for offences under it, of which rape and sexual assault provide the bulk. There are some 297 pending cases involving offences under the Act in courts across South Africa. 4 S & another v Acting Regional Magistrate, Boksburg: Venter & another (CCT 109/10) [2011] ZACC 22; 2011 (2) SACR 274 (CC) para 23.