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CARICOM Member States expected to review age of consent legislation

Mar 21, 2015 News

In light of the soon to be implemented Framework for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy, initiated by Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), and the CARICOM Secretariat, all CARICOM member states are expected to adopt common legal standards concerning ages of marriage, consent, prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence, access to social protection, and sexual and reproductive health services.
This expected amendment, is due to the fact that in jurisdictions like Guyana, the age of consent remains at 16, while the age of majority is 18. This means that girls who end up pregnant before reaching the age of majority, are legally barred from receiving services available through the Ministry of Health.
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), Assistant Representative, Patrice La Fleur said that it is an important issue, since this complication defeats one of the many purposes of the Framework, which states that quality sexual, and reproductive health services and commodities are to be made available, accessible, acceptable, appropriate, equitable, and effective to all adolescents by public health facilities within every Member State.
At a round-table forum addressing Women’s Rights and the Observation of the Beijing Platform for Action, one of the issues voiced by members of non-governmental organisations and various bodies, was the fact that children of this generation are sexually active as early as the age of 10.
This has helped the instances of teenage pregnancy to skyrocket throughout the entire Caribbean, resulting in 26 to 97 out of 1000 births belonging to girls between the age of 15 and 19-years-old. Just last October; this newspaper reported that a 12-year-old girl give birth at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
However, this particular situation is likely to act as the perfect opportunity for Member States to apply the rules of CARICOM, laid down in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Just a few weeks ago, CARICOM’s legal Officer, O’Neil Francis, at a conference held for Immigration Officers, explained the precedential nature of Community Law and decisions of CARICOM and the heads of government.
In doing so, he told the officers that Member States are expected to change, amend or repeal any legislation which conflicts with Community law.
La Fleur, during the discussion on Monday last, presented an outline of expectations under the Framework for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy, which provides that all governments in the Caribbean are to adopt common legal standards, in effort to achieve this community goal.
The vision is to be achieved by the year 2020, and involves a system where governments in the Caribbean, exchange knowledge and information, while adopting good practices in addressing social determinants of adolescent pregnancy, and reducing it by 20%.

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