After being sexually and emotionally violated, oftentimes victims of such abuse must face a secondary violation in the court system, according to social services officials.
But a group of social services advocates, desperately speaking out against the spate of sexual assaults that have petrified Bahamian families, is campaigning for change.
“How many victims of sexual violence can deal with this second victimization and traumatization?” crisis advocate and psychologist Dr. Sandra Dean Patterson questioned. “We must have the Voluntary Bill of Indictment for all sexual offences. We need a separate court for sexual offences.”
In many instances, the court case could take anywhere from four to five years to be resolved, she said.
The coordinator for Health Social Services also spoke about the punishment for sexual offenders, called for a separate court and more measures to protect the victims such as speeding up the court cases and impact testimonies.
“We must have a separate court,” she said. “The backlog is so great that we need a separate court for sexual offenders.”
She said that the Voluntary Bill of Indictment must be utilized for all sexual offences so that it incorporates the victim’s impacted statement and enable them and their families to speak to the court in the way that they were impacted by the crime.
“Most of all we must speak out against the crime and name it as a crime that is unacceptable and something that is not to be condoned or tolerated in our nation,” she said.
Noting that there is no rehabilitation for sex offenders in the country, Dr. Patterson said this issue is one that needs to be addressed.
“Worldwide they are saying that there have been some successful programmes,” she said. “For a number of years we have been calling for a treatment for juvenile sex offenders because many times the adult sex offenders starts out as a juvenile.”
It is the newest angle to a simmering and sensitive issue that has re-ignited the debate over corporal punishment and prompted appeals for the community not to become gripped by fear.
The Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin was also among the women who on Tuesday gathered at the Thompson Boulevard office to express their collective disdain and concern over the recent acts of violence targeting women.
Minister Griffin appealed to the public, especially mothers, to report any information of persons engaged in criminal activities to the police.
“Do not encourage or cloak your sons, your brothers, your husbands, or your boyfriends in wrong doing,” she said. “If you truly love them, you would want to help them become responsible law-abiding persons.”
Reaffirming the Biblical position “we are our brothers and sisters keepers,” Minister Griffin said that the nation must use its collective will and power to firstly identify and address the issues that lead to such acts.
“We must do our part to assist the police in the apprehension of persons responsible for such acts,” she said. “We must ensure the justice system responds speedily and efficiently to bring closure in the shortest possible time so that victims can seek to rebuild their lives.”
Statistics shows that the majority of rapes are committed by men who are known by their victims and the increase in rapes by strangers may be due to the overall increase in rapes reported to police.
By Yvette Rolle-Major, The Bahama Journal