Golding says sex offenders bill to become law by year end

Prime minister Bruce Golding has disclosed that the government is working to have the Sexual Offences Bill passed into law before the end of the year.



The government says it wants to implement the Bill in an effort to protect women and children from sex crimes.



A draft bill, which was completed earlier this month, is to be referred to the legislation committee before it is presented to cabinet and tabled in the parliament.



The prime minister says the establishment of a Sex Offenders Registry and a regime to monitor sex offenders will be included in the bill.



Mr Golding says he will be seeking the cooperation of parliamentarians for speedy debate on the bill.



The prime minister says the bill should be brought to parliament for deliberation before the end of next month.



Up to October 12, cases of carnal abuse had increased by 7.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.



Meanwhile, the prime minister says the task force which was set up to implement measures to combat violence against children will be meeting next week to continue discussions.