Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act of 2009 are expected to be tabled when Parliament comes out of recess in October and to this end the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is said to be working feverishly with the Attorney General’s Chamber to complete them.
According to GINA, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, speaking on the television programme “The Factor”, noted that a couple of cases that have gone to the High Court were thrown out because of “certain technicalities in the law”.
As a result, GINA quoted her as saying, there have been a lot of criticisms from the public with regard to the legislation as well as a lot of calls for amendments to be made.
The GINA release said that one of the key amendments to be made is the right of the accused to respond the witness’s statement laid by the prosecution. It added that this is “a new procedure in the paper committal process which is stated in the Sexual Offences Act.”
Webster, it said, noted that one of the significant features of the Act is that it makes provision for a register of sex offenders, to be maintained and publicised. This system, which has been adopted in several other jurisdictions around the world, is designed to help people recognise and keep track of sexual predators more easily.
“There are a number of social issues such as sexual abuse and domestic violence, that affect our people and these issues must be addressed…today there are more cases being reported than ever before. Long ago these issues were swept under the carpet; people never paid attention to them,” GINA also quoted the minister as saying.
The Child Care and Protection Agency, since its establishment, has dealt with numerous cases; ensuring that the needs of Guyana’s children are properly met and that their rights and privileges are not violated or ignored. The Human Services Ministry as a whole, in spite of constraints, continues to strive to ensure that its interventions are timely and that people are properly sensitised.
To this end, the ministry has also been working closely with the Guyana Police Force to deal with cases of abuse and domestic violence, GINA stated.
“Once these cases are reported,” it quoted the minister as saying, “we will do the complete investigation and try to get enough information… and we work closely with the police in this regard.”
The force has dedicated special officers to whom these cases are referred and special desks have been set up at various police stations across the country to address these issues in an expeditious manner, GINA said.
