Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter
Osmond Bailey
DIRECTOR OF the Victim Support Unit, Osmond Bailey, says the justice system needs to change the way it extracts information from victims of sex crimes.
Mr. Bailey was speaking at a Gleaner Editor's Forum on Thursday, at the company's North Street offices downtown Kingston.
"The way it is currently done in the court puts pressure on the victim," Mr. Bailey said.
In justifying his stance, Mr. Bailey pointed out that in court, traumatised victims of sex crimes are sometimes asked to remember specifics, such as the colour of the offender's shirt. This, he said, puts pressure on the victim.
"It can be devastating because if they fail to remember the specifics they may be treated as if they are lying," Mr. Bailey said.
UNDER-REPORTING
"Maybe this is one reason we have such under-reporting of sex crimes. The justice system, I believe, needs to find different ways of getting information from the victim," Mr. Bailey added.
Convenor of Hear the Children's Cry, Betty-Ann Blaine, meanwhile believes one way to deal with sex crime is the set up a sex offenders registry.
"It certainly would not stop sex crimes but it can in some way help in identifying them," Blaine said.
Of the 2,184 new victims seen by the Victim Support Unit since January, 451 have been victims of sex crimes.
And 449 clients seen by the unit have been affected by
murder while domestic violence has pulled in 303 clients.
Mr. Bailey said on a yearly basis approximately 10, 000
people are counselled by the unit, half of whom are first timers with the remainder being returning victims.
The primary role of the Victim Support Unit is to comfort and assist victims in the aftermath of the offence or wrong from which they have suffered; to advise them of the remedial processes and to guide them through the ensuing prosecution of the person accused of the offence or wrong.
