Sexual Offences Act/Parenting Commission Needs Community Support

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has promised that tough measures will be coming with the Sexual Offences Bill; and he urged parents to support the initiative taken by Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, to establish a Parenting Commission. He added, “Protecting children is more than punishing sexual offenders, it requires the promotion of parenting skills and more vigilant community involvement.”
Speaking Wednesday night (June 24) on the radio programme ‘Jamaica House Live’, Mr. Golding said communities are going to have to start taking some responsibility in these matters. “Sometimes, we in the community know that a man is abusing a little girl and we hush up about it.we keep quiet…the community is going to have to start policing these things,”
Noting that more parents are being called before the courts in cases of child abuse, the Prime Minister remarked, “Good parenting is not something that you acquire naturally. It is something that we have to inculcate; that we have to teach.”