Breaking Down the Sexual Offences Act
Last week I broke down several sections which permit and regulate the power given to courts to exclude members of the public, including the media, from hearings of sexual offences.
Today, I will break down section 52 of the Sexual Offences Act, Cap 8:03, Laws of Guyana (“the SOA”), titled in the marginal note as “Behaviour and reaction of complainant.”
Section 52 of the SOA states (in essence) that if any evidence is provided to a jury concerning how the alleged victim of a sexual offence acted during the commission of the offence, the judge must inform the jury that victims of sexual offences react differently, and that the presence or absence of expected behaviour is not evidence that the alleged sexual offence did not take place.
