Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
Blaine
Convenor of Hear the Children's Cry, Betty-Ann Blaine, and Children's Advocate, Mary Clarke, have welcomed the move by the Government to retable two pieces of legislation that will see persons committing sexual crimes against women and children getting more stringent punishments.
The Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill and the Incest (Amendment) Bill were the two bills retabled by Senator Nicholson on Friday.
Mrs. Blaine told The Gleaner that the bills were timely, especially as it relates to the Incest Bill.
"I am just very pleased to see that our lawmakers are moving with alacrity to modify these particular pieces of legislation, we needed to have them modified a long time ago," she said.
Mrs. Blaine said the stringent measures being introduced through the bills would be used as a deterrent. She, however, cautioned that Government should ensure that the quality of evidence should be above board and that the right persons are brought to justice.
Meanwhile, Children's Advo-cate, Mary Clarke, said she was extremely happy with the Government to be pushing through these pieces of legislation.
"We really really need these pieces of legislation in place to help to address the problem with which we are now facing with respect to the sexual and carnal abuse of children," she said.
LIFE
IMPRISONMENT
The Children's Advocate said the punishments that are currently afforded are not always commensurate to the types of sexual exploitation that are committed against the nation's children.
Under the proposed Incest (Amendment) Bill, incest offenders will now be liable to a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.
"However, we cannot be weary as it relates to rigidly enforcing these laws to ensure that all crime committed against children will be addressed and dealt with expeditiously, in order to ensure that the rights and best interests of our children are protected at all times," she said.
The Incest Bill will also widen the category of relationships with respect to which sexual intercourse is prohibited to include that of uncle and aunt, and nephew and niece, as well as step relations.
The legislation to amend the Offences Against the Person Act will abolish rules, which have created unwarranted hardship for complainants or reflected adversely on the credibility of complainants in sexual offence cases.
According to Senator Nicholson, the abolition of these rules will make it more likely that sexual offences will be reported and sexual offenders brought to justice.
