Senator on sexual abuse: I don't want to see any more

GOVERNMENT Senator Yokymma Bethelmy said on a personal level she was fed up of hearing so many cases of sexual abuse in Trinidad and Tobago over the years including among close friends, speaking on Tuesday in the Senate on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2021.

"I stand before you as a witness of female friends being sexually assaulted in public by complete strangers, as a confidante who has heard the experiences of females and other members of society about being sexually offended from childhood straight into adulthood.

"I've unfortunately seen the disgusting videos shared through social media about children being sexually molested, I've heard and looked at trafficking documentaries.

"Madam President, I've seen it all. And if I have not seen it all, I don't want to see any more.

"I think that I'm fed up."

She said UNICEF says one in ten girls under age 20 has been sexually assaulted and perhaps many more, with their first perpetrator usually being someone they knew.

"So Madam President, who are these sex offenders? It's usually the 'nice guy' – it's usually the stepfather, the brother, the teacher, the coach, the guy that everyone trusts and has easy access to our children. They are usually the people we love and respect."

Bethelmy said sex abuse causes severe physical, psychological and social harm to victims, exposes victims to a risk of AIDS, may lead them to substance abuse and create an inability to care for themselves on reaching adulthood. She said many victims never tell anyone of their abuse.

"Children cannot defend themselves against these individuals, and it is exceedingly rare for a child to make a false claim about being sexually molested.

"Madam President, protecting our women and our children is everybody's business."

Bethelmy said the Government had competing claims in this bill, to protect the rights of offenders and the rights of the general public.

She said the bill, which allows public access to a sex offenders public website, will empower both the police and public against sex offenders.

"The introduction of this register will assist our law enforcement agencies to monitor and track our registered sex offenders as a means of expediting investigations into criminal acts.

"On the other end of the spectrum, the register will allow the average man or woman the opportunity to vet the people they interact with, live around or even expose themselves and their families to."

People will be able to use this information to take safeguards, she said. Bethelmy said TT need not reinvent the wheel as the US Department of Justice had such a register.

She assured that rather than specifying an offender's exact address, the register can allow just his general location to be listed.