Dear Editor,

The sex offender’s registry of Jamaica remains a top secret, but what are the implications posed by the new Sexual Harassment Act to be enacted on July 3, 2023?

It is alarming to note that in the era of access to information, things of this nature are being held captive. We should know the names of the people on the sex registry list. It is like punishing the victims 100 million times over when it is not made public for all to see who is on the list.

The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange announced that this long-awaited Sexual Harassment Act takes effect on July 3, 2023.

Let’s break down what sexual harassment means. One definition is that sexual harassment is a phenomenon of unsolicited and unwanted sexual behaviour that is perceived by the victim as humiliating, offensive, and disabling, in terms of their own safety and psychophysical well-being. Meanwhile The International Labor Organization (ILO) describes it as a series of repeated, unsolicited, non-reciprocal, and fully imposed harassments by the perpetrator that can have serious undesirable effects on the person in a workplace, school, church, home, and public spaces.

It may also include acts, such as groping; intrusive looks; comments and jokes about the victim’s body, clothing, and uterus; use of sexually explicit language or innuendo about the victim’s private life; comments about sexual orientation; or even sexual/erotic contact; and viewing of pornographic audio/video material in public.

Too often people in power or even those who don’t know you utter lewd comments, sexual innuendos, sexist statements, whether face to face or in the cyber world, that are inappropriate and distasteful.

In the context of Jamaica, Minister Grange stated that the Act contains provisions for dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace, schools, correctional institutions, places of safety, nursing homes, medical and psychiatric facilities, among others. Therefore, everyone has the right and responsibility to be in the know and speak up if what they are experiencing meets any of criteria outlined in the Sexual Harassment Act.

In order for change of behaviour to occur, there must be continuous educational campaigns to engage the public. While passing the Act is a great achievement, the work to change people’s thinking and behaviour must start with education. The campaigns need to tackle the penalties associated with the Act, each person’s responsibility, the reporting of sexual harassment mechanisms as well as the victims of sexual harassment.

While I welcome the Act, I am cognisant that people will be make false accusations to pin charges on innocent people under the context of this Sexual Harassment Act. I hope the law is prepared for these cases and will treat them expeditiously.

It is everyone’s duty to protect themselves, their children, their wards, the elderly, employees, church members, prisoners, etc from sexual harassment by reporting any observed incidents and giving evidence when necessary. After all, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

This is where the Protected Disclosure Act comes into play as whistle-blowing must be encouraged and we must do everything in our power to stop sexual harassment of all forms in our society.

Karen McFarlane

Karmac1980.km@gmail.com