[unitedsouthafrican.com – 2/20/19] For many years South Africans have been calling for a list of convicted paedophiles to be made available like that of the United States however the Department of Justice maintain that revealing details of offenders will go against their right to privacy. The Constitution limits the number of people who are allowed access to the information, yet the public are demanding better protection of their children. In the USA the public can freely search a list of registered paedophiles online to establish where they reside. South Africa…
Read MoreCategory: International
3 ways to help sex offenders safely reintegrate back into the community
[phys.org – 9/3/19] Few categories of offender invoke as strong a response as sex offenders. There is a public desire to “do something” about sex offenders, which is taken seriously by politicians of all persuasions. One way governments have responded is by increasing the length of time sex offenders spend behind bars. For example, most Australian states and territories now allow for “dangerous sex offenders”—such as Edward Latimer, who committed numerous offenses against adult victims—to be kept in custody after their sentences have ended. But it’s not feasible to keep…
Read MoreIndonesian Doctors Refuse to Castrate Child-Sex Convict
[benarnews.org – 8/27/19] The association representing medical doctors in Indonesia said Tuesday it would refuse to take part in chemically castrating the first convict sentenced to such punishment under the country’s toughened up child-protection laws against pedophiles. In May, a court in East Java province’s Mojokerta regency found Muh Aris bin Syukur guilty of sexually abusing nine children, including girls as young as 7, between 2015 and 2018, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The judges, in a landmark ruling, ordered that he be chemically castrated to prevent…
Read MoreIRE: How Ireland deals with sex offenders after they’re released from prison
AT ANY ONE time there are between 400 and 450 people convicted of sexual violence in custody in Irish prisons. … During his time in prison, ____ declined to participate in the Building Better Lives programme, a rehabilitation service for sex offenders, despite meeting many of the conditions. These criteria include a prison sentence of longer than 18 months, full admission of the offence, robustness of personality to withstand the challenge of the group and some literacy capacity. Full Article
Read MoreSex Offender Registries: Are they keeping our children safe?
[psychologytoday.com – 8/9/19] Sex offender registries have been in the news lately as media outlets have been questioning why billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor female, was able to largely elude the penalty of being on a sex offender registry by maintaining residences in states that did not require him to register. This then begs the bigger question – what do these sex registries accomplish and do they work to keep our children safe? … Do sex offender registries prevent sex abuse? As with most…
Read MoreMalaysia: Applications to use sex offender registry still low – Hannah Yeoh
[malaysiakini.com – 8/6/19] Only 92 applications to check 1,497 names have been received for the sex offenders registry (e-DKK) which was launched by the Women. Family and Community Development Ministry in March. Its deputy minister Hannah Yeoh (photo, above) said the number of applicants using the registry from April to July was still low due to the lack of awareness in society, especially nursery operators when hiring caregivers or new workers. Read more
Read MoreChina to build child sex offender database
[china.org.cn – 8/3/19] China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) announced Friday that a national database of child sex offenders will be established. The SPP will also promote the building of relevant inquiry and restriction mechanisms for candidates seeking employment related to minors, said Shi Weizhong, a senior prosecutor with the SPP, at a video conference on inter-agency protection of rural left-behind children and children living in difficulties. Over 3,600 suspects have been prosecuted for criminal offenses against rural left-behind children since 2018, according to Shi. In the following phase, the procuratorate…
Read MoreNigeria: NAPTIP Launches Sex Offenders Register To Name And Shame Rapists
[channelstv.com – 7/28/19] The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NAPTIP) has announced plans to launch a sex offender register to name and shame rapists and offenders of other forms of violence against persons. According to the Director General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah, the implementation of the register is aimed at putting an end to all forms of violence against persons in private and public life, and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders. “The spate of this mindless abuse of…
Read MoreBahamas: Sexual Offences Court Could Have Disruptive Impact
[tribune242.com – 7/4/19] JUSTICE Bernard Turner yesterday expressed concern that the establishment of a sexual offences court could have a “disruptive impact” as legal counsel may already have matters scheduled for other courts. Speaking during yesterday’s session of the National Crime Council, Justice Turner also said judges undergo sensitivity training to deal with these kinds of matters. Justice Turner was also asked his views on the establishment of the sexual offender’s registry. While he declined to comment specifically, he noted communities have an “obligation to protect themselves” without “unnecessarily stigmatising…
Read MoreBahamas: ‘Don’t Let Public See Sex Register’
The country’s leading counselling and advocacy services provider for abuse victims does not want a sex offender register to be made public. Dr Sandra Dean-Patterson, director of the Bahamas Crisis Centre, said a public register would be ineffective and would lure people into a false sense of security. Her comments when contacted yesterday came after the government published draft regulations for a sex offender registry earlier this month on its website. Full Article
Read MoreRomania: To have a national sex offender registry
Romania is to have a national sex offender registry that will allow the rapid identification of persons who have committed sexual offenses. President Klaus Iohannis signed on Thursday, June 20, the law on the organization of this Automated National Registry, which targets sexual offenders. Full Article
Read MoreIsrael: Labor’s Gabbay apologizes for calling former MK a ‘sex offender’
[israelnationalnews.com – 6/10/19] The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court accepted the compromise reached between Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay and former Labor MK Eitan Broshi in the libel suit filed by Broshi against Gabbay. Gabbay, who called Broshi a sex offender, was ordered to publicly apologize to Broshi and pay him NIS 40,000 in compensation. Read more
Read MoreEngland: Success! Kylo the Hero Dog Gets to Come Home
[care2.com – 5/30/19] Last summer, a mob of 20 angry men showed up at the residence of a young couple in Bristol, U.K. The men believed that this was the home of a registered sex offender, and they refused to leave even when the couple explained that the person they were seeking no longer lived there. The group didn’t believe the young couple and began attacking them. That’s when their five-year-old dog Kylo, a Staffy Cross Labrador, jumped into action and ran off 15 of the men. But the remaining…
Read MoreChina: Restrictions on child sex offenders
[shanghai.gov.cn – 5/30/19] Sex offenders will no longer be able to work for local enterprises, public institutions and social organizations that involve contact with children, the Shanghai People’s Procuratorate announced yesterday. It issued a document on an employment restriction system to cover all city enterprises, public institutions and social organizations which have special duties in regard to minors, such as guardianship, education, training and help, day care and medical care. They include kindergartens, primary and middle schools, nurseries for children under 3, children welfare institutions and training schools, medical institutions,…
Read MoreAUS: Child Sex Offender Register Could Become Reality After Coalition’s Shock Win
Following Coalition’s shock election victory, a public sex offender register posited by the political alliance in Australia could soon become reality. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton suggested in a January news release that information about the crimes of pedophiles be added to a national child sex offender registry—including the perpetrators’ names, aliases, and photos. “It would have a strong deterrent effect on offenders and ensure that parents are not in the dark about whether a registered sex offender has access to their children,” Dutton said at the time. Full Article
Read MoreSingapore: Suspended sentences: Sex offenders should undergo psychological evaluation, treatment
[singaporelawwatch.sg – 5/14/19] In dealing with sex offenders with mental illness, the best solution may not be rehabilitation, says the writer. Assistant Professor Benjamin Joshua Ong’s idea of imposing suspended sentences on voyeurs is a good one (“NUS case: Suspended sentence in place of police warning will have added benefit of judicial oversight”; May 9). These include jail sentences passed by a court that do not take effect if offenders comply with conditions, such as refraining from re-offending, attending counselling sessions, or staying away from certain areas or persons. The…
Read MoreGuam: Mandatory rather than optional chemical castration for sex offenders sought
[guampdn.com – 5/14/19] A new bill seeks to make chemical castration among Guam’s sex offenders released on parole mandatory, rather than optional or voluntary, under a 2015 law that’s never been enforced. “The intent of the legislation is to add more teeth to an existing mandate,” Sen. James Moylan, R-Tumon, said in introducing Bill 137 on Tuesday. The objectives are not only to reduce recidivism among convicted sex offenders, but also to keep the community safe, the senator said. Moylan’s bill would make the hormone or anti-androgen treatment program, also…
Read MoreTasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey votes against her own government again
[theadvocate.com.au – 5/1/19] Speaker Sue Hickey has scuttled the government’s attempts to impose mandatory sentences on serious child-sex offenders. In making her casting vote on Wednesday night, Ms Hickey said she was surprised a bill, which had already been rejected by Parliament once before, had been reintroduced without amendments. She said she had taken advice from legal professionals opposed to mandatory sentencing provisions in reaching her decision and was worried about unintended consequences arising from its implementation. Attorney-General Elise Archer in the debate said mandatory sentences sent a strong message…
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