Parliamentary committee reviewing Sexual Offences Act to meet May 9
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Joint Select Committee considering the Sexual Offences Act (SOA), among other things, is set to meet on Tuesday, May 9, according to communication from the Houses of Parliament.
The Joint Select Committee will also review the “Child Care and Protection Act”, the “Domestic Violence Act”, the “Offences against the Person Act” and the offences and punishment under these Acts. Special emphasis will be placed on the protection of the vulnerable (women, children, the elderly and people living with disabilities) from violence and abuse, a report from Parliament said earlier this year.
Debate has been rife on many sections under the SOA, most memorably the definition of rape.
Several groups, including the United Nations, Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), and the People’s National Party (PNP) Women’s Movement, have called for a broadening of the definition of rape from “penetration of the vagina by the penis of another person” to include non-consensual penetration of any orifice of the body.