PRESS RELEASE - Zandoli International Foundation disagrees with the Hon Minister of National Security, Victor La Corbiniere’s statement opposing the establishment of a sex offender registry in Saint Lucia.
Zandoli strongly believes that the State can and does have the authority to dictate how people who have been convicted of sex crimes are reintroduced into the society.
The family support system to which the minister refers, is, and has been ill equipped to deal with the prevalence of sexual abusers in the home and community.
In fact the State has to intervene, especially when that sexual abuse was perpetrated within the home. Zandoli is of the opinion that sexual crimes are the same regardless of the country where they are committed.
As a result, tried and proven methods of enforcement, and treatment for offenders remains the same. Sexual crimes are categorized based on risk and the resultant placement of an offender in the sex offender registry will be based on that risk assessment.
The petition is simply asking that the names of convicted offenders be made available to the public. Just as with all other offenders, sexual offenders have exposed themselves to the dictates of the justice system.
A sex offender registry is just one aspect of a larger protection mechanism for the people of Saint Lucia. Zandoli remains committed to the countless silent victims of sex crimes in Saint Lucia and urges all good Saint Lucians to continue this discussion.