PNP official wants Sexual Offences Act revised

The People's National Party Women's Movement is pressing for urgent amendments to Jamaica's Sexual Offences Act, arguing that critical gaps in the law are leaving children vulnerable, particularly in cases of incest.

"I think it needs to look at the definition of incest in the law. I think it's limited to sexual intercourse, actual penetration. So it doesn't deal with fondling, it doesn't address any other kind of sexual assault with respect to incest," the group's president Patricia Duncan Sutherland told THE STAR. The call comes amid concerns that a former member of parliament has been arrested for incest.

Duncan Sutherland argued that the limitation in legislation has serious consequences, particularly for children who may experience abuse that falls outside of what the law strictly defines as intercourse.

"I don't think that fondling is included in the whole case of rape and incest, for example," she said, adding that the issue extends to how rape itself is defined under Jamaican law - penis being inserted in the vagina without consent. Duncan Sutherland reasoned that someone could sexually assault a child anally but that would not be considered rape under the law.

Responding to concerns that expanding definitions could be seen as an attempt to advance changes to Jamaica's buggery laws, Duncan Sutherland dismissed that argument, maintaining that the focus must remain on protecting children. Her position is that strengthening the law to cover all forms of sexual violence against minors should not be conflated with broader debates about adult consensual conduct. She also called for deeper national discussion on how sexual offences are handled beyond the courtroom.

"I think we need to have a full discussion on reporting and the sexual offenders registry and how that is there to be. We had started a conversation some time ago but we did not finish that conversation. I think the country needs to have that conversation."

At the same time, she noted that implementing such systems is not straightforward and requires careful consideration of complex situations.

"You definitely can't be on a registry until you are prosecuted and sentenced for an offence, so you can't be on a registry when you are charged. But apart from that, then who gets onto a registry?" she asked.

"For example ... if an 18-year-old sleeps with a 15-year-old who's going to be 16 next week, should they be on a sexual offender registry? We still have a lot to do as a country."

Duncan Sutherland expressed frustration that despite years of discussion, legislative reform has stalled.

"The revision was to have been done because they did do a joint select committee on it, but they have not yet implemented any of those recommendations," she said.

"I think that the joint select committee report needs to come back, they need to come with a revision of the Act, which would then need to be reviewed again. This needs to be immediate," she insisted.

She also underscored the cultural barriers that continue to prevent victims from coming forward, particularly within families.

"The courage to report it, to stop it , your child needs to know that they can rely on you when a situation occurs. Oftentimes a lot of shame is involved, shame on the part of the adults in the family, as well as shame on the part of the child who's involved," she said.

She urged families to seek help and reject the stigma that often silences victims.

"Just be courageous and to look for help in that courage," she said.