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 MoreCategory: International
Sex 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…
Read MoreBahamas: Dames: No Stats To Support Us Crime Claims; Timeline for the sex offender registry
[tribune242.com – 4/24/19] NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday he didn’t have any statistics to back claims from a recently released United States report that crimes against its citizens in this country had increased. … Officials are also making progress toward the implementation of police body cameras and the creation of a sexual offenders registry, he said. … As for a timeline for the sex offender registry, Mr Dames said officials were pushing to make it public as soon as possible, adding: “There is a lot of planning…
Read MoreFiji: Support for lifetime registration on sex offenders registry
[fbcnews.com.fj – 4/25/19] The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights is currently receiving submissions on the Sex Offenders Registry Bill. The Committee started their Northern tour with public consultations in Lagalaga and Vunivutu village. Committee Chair, Alvick Maharaj says the turnout has been overwhelming with more than a 100 Fijians showing up at the Vunivutu Village hall to make submissions on the Bill. Article continues after advertisement Maharaj says generally the sex offender registry bill has been welcomed and seen as a possible deterrence to serious sexual…
Read MoreAustralia: A public register of child sex offenders will do more harm than good
[smh.com.au – 4/4/19] If politicians are looking for a sure fire vote winner then anything that punishes people convicted of sex offences does the trick. So there is likely to be little resistance to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s budget announcement of $7.8 million to establish a National Public Register of Child Sex Offenders. Dutton is proposing that this register would allow all Australians to see names, aliases and photographs of sex offenders, as well as their date of birth, physical description and the “general location and nature” of…
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