Race, Sex and the Law in Colonial Natal

The white citizens of Natal perceived their women and female children to be under a constant threat of sexual molestation by blacks, although the available statistics suggest that sexual crimes were not especially prolific, given the population density. This article analyses and explains a court case in which a native was tried for indecent assault and (originally) convicted while the evidence was in favour of him and another case in which his employer was tried for causing grievous bodily harm and acquitted and discharged while the evidence was against him. Notes, tab.