CERTAIN SEGMENTS of the Jamaican society are suffering from a rapidly expanding rot, a blight which is threatening our prospects for future economic progress. Two such problem areas are crime and the sorry state of the educational system, the most fundamental cause of which and common to both is the breakdown of the nuclear family unit. This breakdown has, over the years, contributed to young men taking to the gun and young girls having children out of wedlock, too often by different fathers. Perhaps the society has been tacitly encouraging promiscuity and we are now having to face up to its stark and dangerous consequences.
Against this background we agree that the age of consent for sexual activity should be raised from 16 to 18. Dr. Paul Robertson, the minister of development, has set out government policy as it tries, among other things, to protect the rights of Jamaican women. At a press conference earlier this week, Dr. Robertson pointed out that since January, some 847 women have been raped, 1,790 girls carnally abused and 376 women assaulted. These are shocking statistics which tend to prove that the same irrational drive which causes men to turn to violent crime causes them also to take it for granted that their manhood is validated when they batter and abuse women. All of which can be traced back to the breakdown of stable family life and the absence of a father figure to define what real manhood is.
To give effect to government policy in this area, some six existing pieces of legislation will have to be amended, including a constitutional amendment outlawing discrimination on the basis of sex. Other changes will deal with marital rape, expanding to uncles, nephews, nieces and step-parents the scope of family members who may be guilty of incest, placing the obligation for child support on both parents rather than just the father, and setting out regulations to control sexual harassment in the workplace.
These measures are long overdue and we support them. At the same time, we need as individuals to do more to revitalise acceptance of the nuclear family rather than pretending to be 'cool' about multiple relationships as being part of our culture. The society will be better off in the long run.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
