Challenges of the Strength of Evidences Presented to Ethiopian Courts

Rape is a violation of a woman¿s dignity and sexual freedom as someone else takes control of her body and hurts her; and it happens every minute worldwide. The usual absence of eyewitnesses to the crime of rape makes it imperative and to rely upon circumstantial evidence for judgment. The purpose of this study was to explore the strength of evidences presented to West Shoa High Court in rape cases in Ambo town, Oromia, Ethiopia. The methodology used for this study was a retrospective record review - all records indicating final judgments to rape cases from July to December 2014 at West Shoa High Court were reviewed. Additional data were collected using a semi-structured interview among judges and public prosecutors. Conceptual framework categories were used to explore challenges in strength of evidences in rape cases. The findings of this work indicated testimony of the victim, eyewitness and medical report as the types of evidences presented to court in rape cases, among them testimony of the victim is the main source of evidence. The challenges in evaluating the presented evidences in rape cases are lack of standard of proof and especial procedures for rape cases.