BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE government is currently working to have stiffer penalties implemented to combat paedophilia and parents accepting bribes to drop sexual assault cases involving minors.
That comes in wake of a video making the rounds on social media which features a minor, who is engaged in a sexual act with one or more males. This video is said to have been recorded by another minor.
Minister of Gender Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Wendy Phipps told SKNVibes that the government is working on key pieces of legislation to stiffen the penalty.
She noted however, that the government is not fully at the position to bring legislation before the National Assembly in this regard.
“We have not begun that process yet - and part of it has to do with the fact that we are trying to re-organise the Child Probation and Welfare Department, which specifically speaks to that.”
The Federation has, over recent years, had a problem with sexually explicit videos involving minors circulating on various forms of social media.
Additionally, when such cases are prosecuted, parents are often times absent because they refuse to testify, or they were bribed to have the cases dropped, the Minister indicated when she first took office back in 2015.
Against that backdrop, she pledged to have the penalties stiffened to discourage that from reoccurring.
The Junior Minister noted that they are currently undertaking a “legislative comparison” across CARICOM member states, as well as outside of the region, in order to develop the best piece of law to fit the current situation.
“In tandem with that, we have to recognise the fact that it would come with some amount of public education [and] reaching out to parents who are in crisis. We have recognised that there are a lot of young parents, not in a position to prepare themselves for the role of parenting…[and] also in terms of letting them understand what a sacred trust and responsibility they have for raising children…” she explained.
Further, the Minister stressed that majority of the national problems often begin at the family level.
To this end, she revealed that the Federal Cabinet is contemplating the establishment of a Family Court in order to “address these matters in a more specific manner”.
Speaking more specifically to the perpetuated video which features the minor, Phipps indicated that it is a delicate matter which has gained the attention of the Child Protection and Welfare Department.
If the child would have given permission for the act to be committed, Phipps said it is still “statutory rape” as – under the law – a minor cannot give consent for sexual contact. Various agencies within the government and the police are still gathering evidence on the matter.
“In most of these videos, you do not see the faces of the perpetrators, but rather, the child victim is right there in full view, much to the disgust of everyone who has to see this. It is unfortunate that when these things begin circulating, people are so eager to perpetuate them by passing them on to friends and company and it doesn’t help…”
The matter has caught the attention of the Police Force’s Special Victims Unit, which is carrying out a full investigation into that and issues of circulating of child-pornographic material.
It is a crime to have in possession and or distribute any sexual material involving minors.
