Minister Griffin said while the law currently calls for the mandatory reporting of only sexual abuse by persons who perform professional or official duties with respect to children, the proposed legislation has been expanded to include the reporting of all acts of abuse, be it physical, emotional or sexual abuse, in additionto neglect and abandonment.

She said the proposed legislation will also call for increased penalties for persons committing abusive acts against children. “I think the time has come for a Bill such as this one to come before Parliament, especially realizing the issues that face our children today in terms of child protection,”  Minister Griffin said. “Previously, the law only spoke to mandatory reporting of sexual abuse cases, but if passed by Parliament, this Bill address the mandatory reporting of all forms of abuse against our children,” she added.

Minister Griffin said the proposed Bill is a “major legislative initiative” by the Government, which is being undertaken on behalf of the children of the The Bahamas.

She said that under the new law, “all manner of professionals”, be they doctors, nurses, dentists, psychologists, social workers, healthcare providers, school prinicipals and teachers, youth or recreational leaders, police officers, probation officers, youth care workers and members of the clergy, in addition to all other persons who, in the course of that person’s professional or official duties, has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is suffering or has suffered siginificant harm, will also be required to provide a mandatory report of that incident to the Director of Social Services, together with information upon which it is based.

Minister Griffin said the provisions will apply whether or not the information is confidential or privileged, “except that nothing in this section shall be taken to affect or abrogate the privilege that attaches to a communication between an attorney and his client.”

The Minister said that upon receiving a report of any acts of abuse against children, the Director will have the power to launch an investigation into the circumstances of the case and arrange for the provision of such child care services that may be considered necessary.

Minister Griffin said that no civil action will be taken against a person who reports a suspected case of abuse unless the reporting is done falsely and with malicious  intent.  She said persons found guilty of providing false malicious information, indicating that a child is suffering significant harm or is suspected to be suffering, will be guilty of an offence  and will liable, upon summary conviction to fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

“While we want to encourage the reporting of cases of child abuse and suspected cases of child abuse, we don’t want  people to feel that can smear someone’s character by making false accusations just because they may be angry with that person, once a report is made, the Department will investigate that report and where we find that there has been malicious intent, the law will take its course.  However, if after an investigation, we find that the report while untrue, did not contain malicious intent, no action will be taken against that person, Minister Griffin added.