Sexual offences bill passed with Opposition support

THE Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed in Parliament on Friday with full support of the Opposition on the last day of Parliament.

No amendments were raised when the Bill was sent to committee stage and the 22 clauses were passed without any further amendments. This clears the way for it to be made law once signed off by the President. In wrapping up the debate, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, thanked the Opposition for their support. He said the legislation will allow the powers that be to “manage monsters.”

In his contribution, Princes Town MP Barry Padarath called on the Government to lay in parliament the annual report detailing the issues faced, if any, in formulating the registry. He reminded the House of Representatives that in the 2019 Bill, an annual status report was mandated to be laid with regards to the progress of the sexual offenders’ registry. He said to date nothing has been laid and while he supports the Bill, he is hoping that this can be rectified at the earliest.

He also called for reciprocity where registered offenders alert the authorities that they are leaving the jurisdiction and provide detailed information on where they are going for how long and where they will be staying. This he said is being done in the UK, Canada and US and should be implemented locally as well.

Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes said the fact that both sides of the political divide had similar ideas on addressing the issue of sexual offences was indicative of a common goal shared by all. She said while the Bill is one aspect to address sexual offences, there are other areas than can be looked at.

"We need to initiate a cultural shift in the education system. We need to introduce conflict resolution gender studies at a young age so that these problems are solved before you reach to the question of whether or not you need a register to deter you."

She called on Parliamentarians not to politicize the issue adding that promising legislation is not the best way forward. She shared that her constituents wrote to her complaining of being crippled by fear as a result of gender based violence saying that while legislation is one way to fix the issue, something as simple as proper public transportation can go a long way.

She said she fully supports any law that will present solutions and while that should not to be taken as a strict indictment on the Government, simple fixes can produce great results. She also thanked Al-Rawi for addressing the issue of revenge porn in the legislation as that was used against her Vandana Mohit in the lead up to last August general election.

Port of Spain South MP Keith Scotland said the amendments allow for possible atonement. He said it will allow offenders to make an application for their names to be expunged from the registry, unlike New Zealand where the names remain forever.

He said the Bill safeguards sexual offenders, post conviction, who walk the “straight and narrow” following their convictions. He noted that the amendments also allow conflicted sex offenders, once they appeal their conviction, not to be named on the list pending the outcome of said appeal.

In all of this he warned that the registry will be a deterrent saying: “Who will want to know that their name is up on a register as a sexual offender and predator? It will encourage proper behaviour and the controlling of dastardly urges that will guide and lead person to commit serious acts of indecency.”