World Assembly HQ – The Sanctarian Government will oppose a resolution that would make it mandatory for World Assembly member states to keep a publicly accessible register of those convicted of sexual offences, but who have completed their sentence. The resolution, authored by the delegation from Greater Cesnica, would also require the sharing of such a register across all World Assembly nations.
Speaking in the General Assembly today, Dr. Bethany Greer, Sanctarian Ambassador to the WA, said “Publically accessible registers like this do not deter people from committing sexual violence. They do not protect victims. They can, indeed, go so far as to violate the anonymity of victims. They do not respect the rehabilitative nature that prisons and the corrections system should provide. And those are the best case scenarios, my fellow Ambassadors. In the worst case scenarios they put lives at risk. They encourage vigilantism. Mob rule.”
Arguing that the stress and shame a register could place on an ex-offender could induce them to offend again, Greer also said that such a policy was in and of itself “medieval”.
The Sanctarian Government’s current position is that a sex offenders registry should exist, as it does in Sanctaria, but it should only be accessed by law enforcement officers and, when necessary, to other authorised individuals such as social workers or lawyers. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice has said that, should the bill pass, it would be implemented into Sanctarian law in such a way that protects victims of sexual violence, and the ability for rehabilitated ex-offenders to continue to re-integrate into society.
A spokeswoman for Dr. Greer and the Sanctarian delegation said they have already registered their against vote with the Assembly, but because of their duties as Delegate for the IDU, may have to eventually vote for the measure, should a majority of other nations in the region vote in favour of it.
KIM TOWERS, World Assembly Correspondent
