Rape is rape!

FOR PUBLIC Defender Arlene Harrison Henry, however, the United Nations’ proposal is important especially because it also recommends a redefinition of rape as an act committed “against any person”.

Under Jamaican law, only a woman can be raped – an offence that carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment, unlike buggery, which carries up to seven years’ imprisonment.

“There is need for this broader protection of rights of men and women and it ought to be gender neutral. Rape is rape. Right now, a male child who is buggered, no one under our law committed the act of rape against him,” argued Harrison Henry.

Janet Farr, president of the Nurses’ Association of Jamaica, said that redefining sex is accepting the reality. “The definition that we had before was rather archaic. The definition might be speaking to a certain ideology, but this is what the reality is.”

SHOULDN’T BE A CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE

Noting the importance of equality before the law, rights group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) and the gay lobby JFLAG have dismissed critics of the proposal.

“Protecting men and women from rape should not be controversial. The same groups opposing this commonsense reform are also arguing to maintain archaic marital rape exceptions that allow married men to rape their wives,” said Rodje Malcolm, JFJ’s advocacy manager

According to JFLAG’s Glenroy Murray, it is “unfortunate” that Christian critics are taking a position that gives greater significance to some sexual violence over others.

Delroy Chuck, justice minister and committee chairman, has said that the review will run for up to six months, after which a report on the recommendations will be done.