The disabled join calls for reform of sexual offence laws
March 26, 2007
The Combined Disabilities Association (CDA) made a belated appearance last Wednesday before the joint select committee of Parliament considering changes to laws targeting sex offenders.
In the formal presentation by Theresa Grant, Social Affairs Officer at the CDA, there were two main recommendations for changes in the relevant laws.
One was a call for the removal of politically incorrect terms such as "idiots" and "imbeciles" from the statutes. These were terms imported into the language of old Jamaican statutes from Britain during colonial times, and members of the committee had already unanimously agreed to remove them.
The second recommendation was for an end to discrimination in the penalties applied for abuse of women suffering from such mental disabilities as against other women.
Senator A.J Nicholson, chairman of the joint select committee, was taken aback when it was brought to his attention that the penalties for sexually abusing those women having a mental disability were less than the penalties for the same offences against other women. He readily agreed that this should be changed.
Wide range of barriers
Beyond the specific law reform recommendations, however, Ms. Grant highlighted a wide range of barriers encountered on a daily basis by disabled persons in their quest for justice and protection under the law.
She said that, in addition to the frequent instances of carnal abuse, rape and sexual harassment, which women generally encountered, those with disabilities also faced the additional hazards of forced abortion, sterilisation and denial of sex education.
"We have a right to experience our sexuality in a manner comfortable to us. Violations of our rights to have children, rear a family and to choose with whom we have or do not have sex is a crime," she asserted....
Author: Earl Moxam
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
