Home  News Regional News PM wages war against sex offenders, child abuse
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PM wages war against sex offenders, child abuse |
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Written by Sonia Morgan
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Sunday, 02 November 2008 |
With new light being shed on the problem of sexual offenses against women and children in Jamaica, the government is attempting to address the issue with the Sex Offences Bill, which Prime Minister Bruce Golding said they are working to make law by yearend.
Unlike in the US, where sex offenders have to be registered, and are prohibited from living or just being within a certain distance of schools and parks, sex offenders in Jamaica are placed back into society after serving their time, without such restrictions.
Now, the prime minister is establishing a Sex Offenders Registry and is including in the bill a system to monitor sex offenders. The bill, which was completed in early October, will move to the registration committee after which it will be presented to the cabinet for tabling in parliament.
The prime minister, while stressing the importance of such a bill, said he is hoping to get the cooperation of parliamentarians to expedite the debate so the bill will be law soon.
Many of the sex crimes against children in Jamaica go unreported while others, especially between teen girls and men, are seen as normal by some. The problem of pedophilia and incest in Jamaica was a topic of discussion on a popular Caribbean Radio station in South Florida recently, and callers, some of whom were molested as children, broke their silence and expressed why they felt the need to keep quiet about their experience.
Singer, Queen Ifrica in her hit song, Daddy, drew attention to the mounting cases of sex crimes against children, perhaps causing the society to take notice. According to statistics, since early this month, reported cases of statutory rape increased by 7.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
Golding said their task force on child abuse prevention will use several courses of action to address violence against children and will converge for discussions in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, several short-term initiatives were employed to bring immediate help to children who are increasingly becoming victims of sex offenses and other crimes. This included a three-digit emergency number for children to call to report cases of abuse and improving the capacity of the Center for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.
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