Special effort to protect women, children
THE ONE-YEAR-OLD Andrew Holness administration has taken steps through legislation, policies, as well as public-education campaigns, to protect women and children from abuse and discrimination.
This is being achieved through the ministries of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; and Education, Youth and Information.
The Bureau of Gender Affairs, through a robust public-education campaign, has issued a call to action to end gender-based violence. The campaign has been focusing on community-based outreach to raise awareness among the persons most vulnerable to gender-based violence, sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation.
The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport reviewed three policy documents over the past year – the Draft Sexual Harassment Policy; the National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-based Violence (NSAP-GBV) 2017-2027; and the National Land Policy, to ensure gender-sensitive legislation that provides adequate protection of the rights of women.
PLACING GENDER AT FOREFRONT
Gender Minister Olivia Grange says the primary objective of these is “to provide a framework for the prevention of sexual harassment; to provide public education and training and to assess complaints procedures and penalties”.
In addition, implementation of the National Policy for Gender Equality will continue this year. This is in keeping with Government’s policy to ensure that gender is placed at the forefront of all of its plans and programmes.
The Government has also put measures in place to better protect children entangled in custody disputes, particularly abduction, involving disputes between parents, by strengthening the Children (Guardianship and Custody) (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
The bill aims to protect children from abduction across international boundaries by providing a procedure to ensure their prompt return.
Parliament also approved a motion for the establishment of a joint select committee to focus on issues related to gender-based violence and abuse of children.
The committee will complete the re-examination of the Sexual Offences Act; the Offences Against the Person Act; the Domestic Violence Act and the Child Care & Protection Act. It will also consider the crafting of legislation in relation to acts of violence committed against pregnant women which result in harm or death to the unborn child.