PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo will, on Monday, publicly give his much anticipated assent to the Sexual Offences Bill, Head of the President Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon announced yesterday.
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday, at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, he said: “ A public ceremony has been planned to witness the President’s assent to the recently passed Sexual Offences Bill.”
The event was initially slated to take place at State House on Main Street, Georgetown this afternoon, but a statement yesterday afternoon advised that, due to inclement weather, the event has been postponed, and will now be held on Monday at 15:00 hrs at the Police Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary.
“That act, the public assent, is of course a reflection of the importance given by this administration to the enactment of this very important piece of legislation,” the HPS said.
Luncheon continued: “Cabinet is convinced that the Act is comprehensive enough to address the many forms and uses in which sexual misconduct constitutes an offence, particularly forced unsolicited sex and sexual advances, sexual perversions, rape, statutory rape, these are all among the offences that are listed and penalised in the Sexual Offences Act.”
He concluded: “Cabinet’s overall intention, in the context of the prevalent sexual offences, is to heighten society’s focus on prevention of such sexual offences; penalising the perpetrators and providing therapy to both victims and the predators.”
Last month, the National Assembly unanimously passed the Sexual Offences Bill 2009 which was tabled by Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Priya Manickchand.
Various sections of society, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), have lauded the action and pledged support following the passage.

UNICEF 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.
The Bill is intended to revamp the archaic laws, relating to such crimes, which are still in use today and substitute new penalties.