 | Press Release
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| Child protection strengthened
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| Bahamas Information Services
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| 03/08/2007
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NASSAU, The Bahamas --- Minister of Social Services, the Hon. Melanie Griffin, addresses students of the Eugene Dupuch Law School about the newly passed Child Protection Act at Choices restaurant on Monday 5th, March 2007. (BIS Photo: Kris Ingraham)
NASSAU, The Bahamas ---Social Services and Community Development Minister the Hon. Melanie Griffin. (BIS photo: Kris Ingraham)
NASSAU, The Bahamas --- The Government has moved to strengthen child protection laws under the Child Protection Act, 2007, Social Services and Community Development Minister Melanie Griffin said on Monday night.
Addressing a group of students at the Eugene Dupuch Law School, at the lecture theatre at the College of the Bahamas, Mrs. Griffin said that the 2007 Act is intended to strengthen child protection laws, particularly as the cases of sexual and emotion abuse continue unabated.
She said that the Act has implications for the various agencies of the government, “and so we are diligently working to bring the Act into force, and we expect that very soon.”
“While the Act is not a panacea, I am satisfied that it is a tremendous improvement on what was in place before,” Mrs. Griffin added.
She noted that social conditions have changed since the Children and Young Person Act in 1947.
“Our efforts on behalf of the care and protection of children needed to be brought into the 21st century…” she said.
The major provisions of the Act dealt with were as follows:
· Parental responsibility;
· The concept of significant harm to children;
· Expanded definition of “cruelty” to a child;
· Supervision orders, emergency protection orders, care orders and exclusion orders.
Supervision orders are meant to assist parents or guardians who cannot control children’s behaviour. Care orders are appropriate where children are likely to suffer harm. Exclusion orders are used where it is necessary to exclude, for instance, abusers from homes to protect children.
It was common ground that there is a need to provide children with the information and skills they need to protect themselves from all forms of abuse.
The Act imposes a duty on persons who have the charge, care or custody of children to use their best efforts to protect them from discrimination, abuse and neglect and to ensure that they attend school.
It also provides that after the death of the mother, the father of a child born out of wedlock can only appoint a guardian of the child where he has been granted custody of the child.
Such fathers can only be granted custody of the child where the court is satisfied that it is in the best interest of the child for him to have custody.
The Act also provides that a police officer, social service officer of any authorized person who has reasonable grounds to believe that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, can take the child and place that child under emergency protection for a maximum of 48 hours.
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