UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Country Representative, Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, has pledged that his agency will throw its weight behind the new Sexual Offences Bill.
“Anything that is being done by government and civil society, individuals and groups that is going to, one way or the other, tackle sexual offences, is something that UNICEF is bound to, by its mandate, throw its whole weight behind,” he said in an invited comment.
The Sexual Offences Bill was unanimously approved in the National Assembly last month, changing, in a significant way, the law as it relates to sexual offences.
Braimoh said the great thing about the legislation is that the focus is largely on prevention.
“I think that is one of the major contributions of the bill,” he remarked.
The diplomat said strengthening the legislative framework to deal with perpetrators and victims is also a major step forward in addressing sexual offences, a number of which, in recent months, have often been linked to violence.
“This is what you and I see everyday in the news and that is the situation. The challenge now that the legislation is there is how to move forward,” Braimoh posited.
He agreed that, for a small country, Guyana has made a big step and lauded the political commitment to getting things done.
Braimoh explained that UNICEF is the UN agency to advocate for and support the realisation of children’s rights.
“If you look at sexual offences, and I am not saying that it is peculiar to them, a great deal of the victims are children and women,” he observed, maintaining that the new statute advances, in the right direction, efforts being made to protect children and women and allow them to realise their potential.
Braimoh declared that the bill is a comprehensive document.
“In society, when you find sexual offences, the legislation is, sometimes, narrow, and people do not take into consideration the wide ramifications of the things that could constitute them. But the Guyana bill has done a good job,” he said.
Braimoh conceded that, even if the bill is not at the ultimate level, it is a solid piece of legislation that addresses sexual offences in the context of this country.