PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo publicly assented to the historic Sexual Offences Bill 2009 yesterday, before a wide cross-section of society, testimony to its importance, and a public awareness campaign was launched. The history-making event saw government officials, Members of Parliament, members of the Diplomatic community, various interest groups, school children and others witnessing the signing of the bill at the Police Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
The campaign to support the Sexual Offences Act, referred to as a modern and progressive piece of legislation, is an aggressive and wide-ranging public education campaign to create, among the general population, an awareness of the new offences and penalties under the law.
The campaign will be delivered in two parallel tracks with overlapping goals and objectives, themed ‘Stamp it Out’ and ‘No More Tears’.
The ‘Stamp it Out’ builds on the initial work done during the drafting of the bill and the national consultations and will be directed at enforcement activities.
The ‘No More Tears’ track will focus on education and interventions aimed at social transformation and behavioral change at all levels of society.
Two aspects of the ‘No More Tears’ strategy were unveiled yesterday, which include the White Campaign, and the TELL Scheme for Primary Schools.
‘White Zones’ are going to be places and spaces where women and children who feel threatened can go to find help or can gather with a sense of safety and security. The first White Zone Flag was unfurled by President Jagdeo, United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Country Representative Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, and Minister of Human Services and Social Security Ms. Priya Manickchand.
The TELL Scheme is designed to encourage changing attitudes towards disclosure among children.
President Jagdeo, delivering the keynote address, pointed out that the new Act would add to the “arsenal available to us to fight the predators in our society”.
“All through my life I have preached tolerance; I think that it is the only way forward for our country and forward in relations between people; but I am asking you today to be intolerant to the predators in our society,” he called.
Alluding to many people saying that the bill is against men, he insisted that this is far from the truth, adding, “In fact, we, the men in this society, have a greater obligation to ensure without being paternalistic that the women of our society – our mothers, our daughters, our children – that they are protected.”
He said the government has for some time now recognised that all Guyanese are equal before the constitution and before each other; but in amending the constitution, it was recognised that there were certain vulnerable groups within society that “needed protection beyond the usual.”
“And this is why we are one of the few countries in the world, but the only country in this hemisphere, that I know of that has within its constitution five rights commissions, and three of those deal with children, gender, and indigenous people,” he noted.
He reminded that the two others relate to human rights and ethnic relations; but they recognised that these areas and groups needed special attention “because they are vulnerable and because unless we get things right in these areas, we are not going to be able to create the humane, the progressive society that we all aspire to.”
He recalled that in 2006, when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic campaigned, it placed in its manifesto a whole series of changes in the legislative environment of the country; protection of children and women were placed high on their priorities.
Adding, “We recognised that we had to get this done and we made a commitment that we will get this done because this was a sacred promise that we went to the electorate with, that we will get it done in this term of office.”
He said they have tried as usual to involve as many people as possible in the elaboration of these initiatives, and in this regard, took the opportunity to thank all the people who have been involved in getting this bill passed, including many of the rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Guyana.
He reiterated that they have played a critical role in “shaping and getting the legislation here today”.
“So I hope that the same energy that we displayed in advocating for the bill that the same energy will be displayed when going after predators in this country, and that the rights organisations now will turn their eyes to the people who violate women and children, and don’t allow positions of influence, power, or money to allow them to evade justice in our country,” he said.
The President also said he hopes that the victims are not going to be tried several times in the media even before they have gone to court.
“This is disgusting; utterly disgusting, and there are provisions in this bill to deal with this,” the Head of State warned.
“If the media is irresponsible and if they put these victims through a second set of trauma after they have gone through these serious abuses, then they will pay the penalty, too, and we have to collectively don’t exempt any one because they are pro-government or anti-government media,” he assured.
Jagdeo further called on the church organisations, NGOs and members of civil society to help, observing that there are some civil society organizations in every village in the country and in every ward in the city.
“Often they know who the abusers, are but they don’t come forward too, because sometimes we have abusers in these organisations too, and we need to make sure that we have a partnership among civil society and the government that we are going to expose the abusers, we are going to be at the forefront of the struggle to create that environment where people don’t feel that they would be penalized if they come forward,’ he stated.
“The White Zone should not be a designated building in a community. The white zone should be every home in every one of our communities across Guyana,” he declared.
Expressing his concern about prosecution, he said that the police would have to do a better job and would have to be equipped and trained as well, as the DPP too.
“They need also to ensure that there is consistency in sentencing. You can’t give a pedophile bail and the same magistrate refuses someone bail for playing music too loudly. Its shows how they view some types of crime,’ he said.
He noted that people can use all kinds of legal technicalities to get away from prosecution in Guyana, stressing, “We have to cut through all of this to ensure that we go behind those who abused children and women.”
He urged women not to make false reports because there are serious penalties for that as well.
“Let us have a wave of support across politics, across every other perceived difference we may have to tackle the predators among our midst, and as I said from the very beginning, this is a role for us men, too, in the society,” he repeated.
He noted that many people sometimes relate to this as just another pi
ece of legislation or law.
“I hope that we can all relate to this bill in a very personal way, because if we do so then we may all get the energy or collectively come together to make the change,” he emphasized.
Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Priya Manickchand, in introduction of the bill conceding that the laws relating to sexual offences were archaic and needed to be reformed,  also applauded and recognized the efforts of the women of the country in making this a reality.
She also mentioned specifically, too, the men who have been behind the piece of legislation, and underscored the genuine support given by male members of the Cabinet.
“The entire focus of the legislation from the moment we began drafting is aimed at protecting Guyana’s vulnerable – men, women and children,” she noted.
She said all of the provisions are aimed at protection of the people, adding, “Particularly our women and children who, it is no secret, are more vulnerable in this area because they are perceived to be weaker.”
“Today, I believe we end one story, the assent of this bill, but we have to begin as soon as we walk out of here the writing of the other story and that is implementation,” she encouraged.
UNICEF Country Representative, in brief remarks, acknowledged the work of government, particularly the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the long road that has involved many in “getting us to where we are today”.
He said UNICEF is committed and mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for the rights of children and women.
“We in UNICEF welcome this development and we look forward to the opportunity to stand by your side, behind you and with you, as a country, as a society, to propel this process forward. You can count on us and we definitely will ensure that we meet our responsibilities and our mandate,” he committed.
The proceeding was co-chaired by Adviser on Governance of the Office of the President, Ms. Gail Teixeira, and Member of the Constitutional Commission on Women and Gender, Ms. Vanda Radzik.
Persons were also given the opportunity to view the exhibition of TELL posters.