– Minister Manickchand
MINISTER of Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Priya Manickchand, who piloted it through Parliament, said, while there are provisions in the Sexual Offences Act that are going to be models for sister Caribbean nations as well as others further afield, Guyana is also a model in the implementation. She was speaking on Monday, when President Bharrat Jagdeo publicly assented to the historic legislation in the presence of  a wide cross-section of society, at the Police Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
Manickchand acknowleded all the women who were involved in the process and conceived of the thought that the country’s laws, as it related to sexual offences, were archaic and needed to be reformed.
In that context, she recognised and applauded the efforts and lobbying, for the legislation to where it is today, by the women of this country.
“We must applaud each and every one of them, those mentioned and those that we will never be able to mention, like the women on the consultation who would have made the arrangement for us to go under the benab at Moruca to consult with the people there and the women in Corentyne, who would have made dinner for us when we went there to consult, people whose names would never be known to you but who would have contributed to this legislation becoming a reality today in no small measure,” Manickchand emphasised.
She mentioned, specifically, too, the men who have been behind the process from the beginning or who joined in later, once they became aware of the fact that it was not an anti-male piece of legislation.
“And I want to salute those men who, even at the risk of being taunted and called very unattractive names, went forward and carried the torch to bring this legislation to where we are today,” Manickchand added.
She said she is, particularly, grateful to the male members of Cabinet, led by President Jagdeo, who genuinely supported the provisions of the statute.
Manickchand recalled that the bill was taken through Cabinet several times, where almost each provision was scrutinised with a view to making it better and to offer coverage that is protection for people, especially our women and children, stronger.
She said the entire focus of the legislation, from the moment they began drafting, was aimed at protecting Guyana’s vulnerable people, men, women and children and assured that it is gender neutral and will protect anyone who needs protection.

Perceived

“All of the provisions are aimed at protecting our people, particularly our women and children, who, it is no secret, are more vulnerable in this area because they are perceived to be weaker,” Manickchand asserted.
She said this is something that was promised in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) manifesto for the 2006 general elections.
“We promised that we would reform the law as it relates to sex offences as well as the law relating to children and we promised to bring into effect many new laws. Well, this afternoon is another promise fulfilled,” Manickchand stated.
She said it is adding to other pieces of legislation that have been passed and reminded that the last year has seen the passage of about three aimed at protecting children, the Protection of Children Act, Status of Children Act and Adoption of Children Act.
Pending in the National Assembly, presently before a Special Select Committee are two other bills, namely the Child Care Development Services Bill and the Custody, Care, Contact and Guardianship Bill, Manickchand informed.
She also reminded that Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Clement Rohee, in 2007, guided the amendment to the Juvenile Offenders Act through the National Assembly.
“So we now have a Juvenile Offenders (Amendment) Act, which allows for children who find themselves in conflict with the law to be held separately from adults who find themselves in conflict with the law, as a result of which a whole new building has been built and shall be commissioned shortly, to also protect our children,” Manickchand informed.
Reiterating that these are all undertakings delivered upon, she declared: “We had promised to do this and we have done it. But I wish to caution, as long as the history of this bill is and as hard as it may have appeared, at some times, to get passed, 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.”
Manickchand continued:“I believe the challenge now will be implementing these provisions and that will fall at the doorstep of all the service providers.”
She said they include the Police, the Courts, the Magistracy, the prosecutors, social workers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“All of these players will be very essential and necessary in the implementation of the provisions of this bill,” Manickchand maintained.
She went on: “We have, in this bill that is going to become an Act shortly, legislation of which we can be justly proud as Guyanese.”
The Minister said the challenge would be to resolve, in all of the fields, to ensure that these provisions are implemented in a timely manner.
“The executive arm of Government has done that which was necessary to protect our people. It will now depend on Heads of Services to ensure that the necessary training is put in place to facilitate implementation and I challenge those Heads, as well as the persons who are going to be implementing or tasked with implementing this legislation, to do it in a timely way,” she said.
Manickchand encouraged them to make themselves familiar with what is available in the legislation.
“Let us start writing that story so that, in a few years, our children can stand where we are today and applaud that story in the same way that we are applauding the effort to close this particular chapter,” she appealed.
Alluding to some criticisms about the length of time it took for the legislation to come into being, Manickchand said, even while they were labouring over it, other important pieces of legislation were drafted and policies implemented.
“And we continue to provide the regular types of services that are always a challenge to do effectively,” she stated.
“The persons who were critical of the length of time the bill took to come into being, I can understand the anxiety, because of the need for this legislation. But I am happy and I have absolutely no regrets that we did it the right way by hearing all the people of Guyana who wanted to be heard and by giving the Opposition members of Parliament a fair chance at contributing to this bill, even though it took us about nine months in Select Committee,” Manickchand reflected.
She also refuted allegations that the legislation is pro-women or particularly unfriendly to men.