Gya: Perverts object to raising the age of consent

After 10 long years,

Legislation being drafted to raise age of consent-- Minister Shadick

GINA - The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security is actively pursuing measures to have the age of consent in Guyana raised.

Minister within that Ministry, Ms Bibi Shadick, told the Government Information Agency on Monday, "The Ministry is actively pursuing legislation to raise the age of consent".

According to the Minister, the legislation is currently being drafted and will be tabled in the National Assembly soon.

She noted that a few hurdles have been encountered and the Ministry is addressing these. One of the challenges, the Minister said, is the opposition by some interest groups to the rise in age of consent from 13 years to 16 years.

Ms Shadick explained that this policy has been in the making for years now and two years ago she reaffirmed Government's commitment to have the age of consent raised.

She also disclosed that Government is seeking to put measures in place to protect children from abusive parents.