… says Minister Dr. Frank Anthony
“LET us work collectively to reduce this scourge of rape and other sexual abuse from our society.”
This was the call made by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony. He was speaking last Thursday in parliament, giving his total support to the Sexual Offences Bill of 2009 which was passed in the House.
He took the opportunity to congratulate Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Priya Manickchand, and her ministry staff, and all the various stakeholders who had worked very hard on the bill.
Indeed, it has taken quite a while to put this comprehensive piece of legislation together, and with good reason, because the changes proposed herein, is as profound as it is revolutionary,” he noted.
He said that is why it took a while to understand the concepts, accept the inherent arguments and premises on which they were built, and finally, to generate consensus in accepting these provisions.
“We in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic welcome the reforms and the changes that this bill would usher in. We recognise that our laws on sexual offences are quite antiquated and…it dates back to 1844,” he said.
He said it can be argued that the law has developed in a piece-meal manner sometimes by parliamentary amendments and sometimes through the common law, and over time, these changes can lead to variation and erratic practices, hence “it is important that this be regularised and brought into a coherent structure.”
“In my mind, I think that this bill has certainly created a coherent structure,” he insisted.
“Where there was ambiguity in the definition of offences, it is now clearly defined; where there was once sentencing discretion, it has now been substantially reduced or removed, and in its place strong penalties and long years of imprisonment is now the prescribed punishment for offenders and abusers,”he said.
He said he is particularly pleased that they have been able to review and upgrade these penalties, “to ensure that there is a better match between crime and punishment.”
However, it is very difficult to compensate for the physical damage that it can cause, the mental anguish of being violated, the psychological damage, the sometimes permanent psychiatric disorders that may occur, or the unwanted pregnancy or the unwelcomed sexual transmitted infection, and in worst cases, even HIV, he outlined.
He noted that these consequences of sexual assault can have a devastating impact on most persons, and it is against this backdrop that the minimum that “we could do was to increase the penalties and lengthen the period of incarceration.”
“Yet many of these persons who are victims of sexual assaults, who by research have shown that they are predominantly women or young girls, are reluctant to report the cases because of societal attitudes,” he noted.
“Instead of empathising with the victims and seeking justice on their behalf, we often ridicule and shame them; we treat them with scorn, we devalue their self-worth, we blame them and often stigmatise them,” he observed.
Minister Anthony said this stigma of rape is so strong that it is a key factor why victims don’t report the matter.
“Yet, by not reporting these cases, and by the competent authorities not prosecuting them, it helps to embolden the perpetrators and reinforce the victims’ sense of hopelessness,” he pointed out.
He said even when prosecution is attempted, the bureaucratic maze that one has to negotiate to get justice is sometimes quite frustrating, and when they finally get their day in court, many victims often relate that the treatment in the trials is something akin to being raped all over again,” he underscored.
He said the bill helps to bring change and to break this vicious cycle of sexual violence, and hopefully, it would help the society to make a paradigm shift; and instead of stigmatising victims, “we will be more caring and compassionate while abhorring and ostracising the sex offenders.”
He conceded that there are many forward looking and forward thinking provisions in the bill.
“I am extremely pleased that this bill has extended a stronger protection for the vulnerable amongst us, especially our children and those persons who are mentally challenged,” he pinpointed.
He said children can be abused in various ways, and noted that most of these abuses are perpetrated by persons known to the victims, and most episodes of molestation are non-violent and can o on for months or years in some cases.
He alluded to a recent literature on sexual transmitted infections and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV, which points to phenomenon called ‘sugar daddies”, where older men seek out adolescent school girls for sex in exchange of money, sometimes lunches or gifts, and many of these older men who are more often sexually experienced and may have multiple partners, are at greater risk of having HIV, and this of course, they will pass on to these innocent children.
“Many of these men prey upon young children, grooming them, exploiting their circumstances, and in the process, literally destroying their lives,” he said.
“This callousness and this indifference with which we treat these matters must stop, and this bill puts in harsh penalties for the sugar daddies and other perpetrators, because they will be charged for rape and would be liable on conviction to life imprisonment, and I hope that these stronger penalties would serve as a deterrent to prevent future cases,” he expressed.
He said the bill also extends protection of children in other areas, including a number of new offences dealing with modern forms of child abuse.
He said that these new offences would close several loopholes in the current law, and extend a protective cordon around our children.
He said people with disabilities, whether physical or mental, are often at a disadvantage in many societies, and very often persons who have mental disabilities can be sexually abused because the perpetrators or abusers feel these persons being medically incompetent would not be able to testify to their heinous crimes and they would go undetected.
He posited that protection of persons with these disabilities is now provided for, and in a similar vein, persons who breach trust with minors, seniors, or other institutionalised persons would also feel the full strength of the law.
He said he is pleased, too, that several provisions in this bill will also help to protect the general public or the unsuspecting public from sex offenders, noting the advent of many new forms of technology, and this is a timely addition to the bill.
He concluded that there are many commendable provisions in the bill, and it has been specially crafted to address real concerns that were articulated during the ‘Stamp it Out’ campaign.
“I think Guyanese can rest assured that this bill has adequately addressed most of their concerns,” he maintained.