When anyone speaks about rising crime in Anguilla nowadays, sexual offences immediately come to mind because of late they rank highly on the list of criminal activity on the island. Child molestation and unlawful carnal knowledge, in which young girls are robbed of their innocence and dignity by some unscrupulous men who seem to have lost their reason and decency, must be roundly condemned.

Despite heavy jail sentences recently imposed on offenders by the High Court, there appears to be little let up in the frequency of sex abuse cases. In sentencing them to 10 and 14 years or more, the Madam Judge said she was sending a clear message to other persons in the community who might commit similar offences. Since then, there has been the occurrence of more unlawful sexual acts including reports of incest, an even greater perversion of sexual conduct.

Not only can such immoral acts affect the psychological side of the victims, but in most cases are likely to result in unwanted pregnancies and, quite possibly, sexually transmitted diseases of the worst kind. Apart from the impact which this demeaning behaviour can cause on the lives of the abused, is the effect it can have on this small community where the social services are stretched to their limit as the population and needs increase.

The question is how can the tide of sexual abuse be controlled in Anguilla as far as the law is concerned? Ours is not one of those Islamic societies in the Middle East where barbaric punishment is meted out to sex offenders, but it is clear that only a greater severity of the force of law may cause a would be offender to think twice even in a heightened state of sexual passion or temptation.

Life imprisonment is the greatest punishment provided for in the Anguilla Criminal Code for sexual offences. When the penalties were being increased a few years ago, Albert Hughes, the Elected Member for West End, felt during the debate in the House of Assembly that life imprisonment was too harsh a punishment. He no doubt thought that it was not right for the sentence for a sexual offence to be equivalent to that for the capital offence of murder. With the prevalence of sexual misconduct on the island, he may now have second thoughts.

The community is growing weary of, and becoming sickened by, this explosion of child molestation on the island. There is no defence when it comes to this evil perpetrated against persons under the age of consent even if those persons were to have feelings of sexual desire themselves. This is a way of protecting them from exploitation. There needs to be a concerted effort on the part of everyone, the court, the church and every organisation, to do what they can to stamp out the rise in these types of offences which now threaten to fill up the island’s prison cells. In the final analysis, it is left to wayward men to mend their ways and to exercise responsibility and respect in the community.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News