Shennia McIntosh’s GBN report of a fisherman being sentenced for repeatedly sexually abusing a child younger than 10 years old should be a wake-up call for us all.
We have supported the proposed change to the Age of Civil Legal Responsibility (Amendment) Bill, reducing the age from 18 to 16 for sexual and reproductive health services. The bill contemplates reducing the age further if there is “good cause” to do so, and proposes a further cautious parliamentary process for that step.
We have provided the Government with substantial data establishing that in Grenada and the Caribbean, there is already abundant and compelling “good cause” to reduce the age far below 16 today. 40-year-old Roy Jude Aki, the fisherman from Carriacou, has strengthened our case.
In fact, we have recommended that there should be no age barrier at all. We should trust the professionalism of our healthcare workers.
Your readers should know that Guyana already allows children of any age to have access to HIV testing without parental consent. We see no justification for treating HIV any differently from other sexually transmitted diseases or reproductive health services.
The wretched experience in Carriacou puts further focus on the ineffectiveness of the punishment mechanism on which we rely. Incarceration alone does not deter sexual predators and certainly cannot constrain pedophiles. Mr Aki is a repeat offender.
Punishing individuals is no way to address a systemic, cultural phenomenon. It would be instructive to learn what, if any, orientation to sexual education Mr Aki received in his formative years, 30 years ago.
Sincerely,
Tonia Frame, President, Grenada Planned Parenthood Association (GPPA)
Fred Nunes, Consultant, Advocates for Safe Parenthood: Improving Reproductive Equity (ASPIRE)
Castration.
Correct. Physical castration plus a long term prison sentence. This sort of behaviour is absolutely disgusting