OPPOSITION Member of Parliament for Central St Catherine, Olivia “Babsy’ Grange, has asked Minister of National Security Dr Peter Phillips to produce the figures for the number of persons deported to Jamaica for sexual offences in 2005.

The Spanish Town MP also called on Dr Phillips to advise the House whether any of these deportees had committed sexual offences in Jamaica, since their deportation, and whether they are being monitored in any way.

She said that a registry of sex offenders was needed, and a programme implemented to monitor their movements and activities.

Grange was speaking Tuesday in the debate on a private members motion brought by government backbencher and neighbouring MP, Sharon Hay Webster (South Central St Catherine). The motion seeks to have the Human Resource and Social Development Committee of the House of Representatives conduct a comprehensive review of the social and economic implications of the incidence of offences such as rape, incest and carnal abuse. The resolution also asked that the committee consider life imprisonment as a penalty for these acts as well as comprehensively assess the penalties.

But Grange said that legislation relating to sexual offences and carnal abuse must also be revised to take into account the psychological and physical health of the victims, as well as the perpetrators background, their history of committing such offences and their mental capacity.

She said that preliminary data from the Ministry of Health indicated that 1,509 victims of sexual assault utilised the services of the emergency departments of the public hospitals in 2004. She said that men uder 35 years of age were mainly responsible for these rapes.

“We don’t need criminologists and sociologists to tell us what are the consquences to the society of these vicious sexual crimes perpetrated on our women and children,” Grange said.

“The consequences are played out every single day in the news we hear of the vicious crimes committed daily across Jamaica.”

She also objected to suggestions that women invite rape by the way they dress.

“The legal definition of rape must always rest on the criminal intention of the perpetrator to commit the crime and should bear no relationship to the demeanour of the victim,” the MP noted.

She added that rape was prevalent across the country, and that there were too many incidents going unreported.

A major problem in proving rape is that a lot of “so- called consensual sex” was coercive, and there is difficulty in obtaining evidence, Grange said.

In addition, the rules of the court make it very difficult to obtain convictions and must also be looked at.

“The urgency of this debate about sexual offences, therefore, must be driven by the seeming epidemic of rape and sexual abuse of our children that appears to be overtaking the society, and the perceived slap on the wrist punishment given to perpetrators,” she stated.

She added that those convicted of these crimes should be made to pay dearly for the offence, and meaningful support must be afforded the victims.

Shahine Robinson, MP for North East St Ann, also supported the establishment of a national register of sex offenders.

Robinson said the time had come for the country to avail itself of modern technology used in the pursuit and containment of sex offenders, including DNA technology.

“We must inform communities of the threat of sexual predators in their midst, as we can only win this battle with greater access to information,” Robinson said.