Stalking to become a crime

The Government is set to make stalking an offence under the Offences Against the Person Act.

Kamina Johnson Smith, the leader of government business in the Senate, noted that the act was reviewed by a joint select committee of Parliament and there was a recommendation for the law to be amended to make stalking an offence.

"If you are harassed by a stalker, that offence does not exist and it needs to exist within the Offences Against the Person Act," said Johnson Smith, the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade.

She added: "Whether you are in a relationship or not, if you are being stalked and you are in fear, that is an actionable crime that can be prosecuted, and you can get a protective order. You can prevent the greater crimes that usually come as a result of stalking, which [include] rape or murder."

In 2018, a joint select committee of both Houses of Parliament, said it discovered that there was no substantive offence of stalking in either the Sexual Offences Act or the Offences Against the Person Act.

"We felt that this omission should be addressed and, therefore, decided to insert a new, substantive offence of stalking in the Offences Against the Person Act," the report said.

Last Wednesday, Johnson Smith, who was addressing a regional conference on women's political and parliamentary leadership at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, noted that the law will be amended to make it easier for women to have their husbands prosecuted for marital rape.

The law currently outlines that certain conditions be met in order for a wife to claim rape.

"There are specific things that allow you to be able to claim that you were raped in marriage. It should not be that a married woman has less rights than an unmarried woman. Both of us should have the rights over our bodies and that is what was agreed by the [joint select] committee [which deliberated on the act]. So, when the act is amended, it will delete all the preconditions for claim of marital rape. Again, its about respect and the rights over our bodies," Johnson Smith said.