For far too long, many women have withdrawn cases of gender violence because they face unfriendly responses when violence happens behind closed doors. The Bill will not only mean stronger legal protections, but it has also meant that people in the country are talking about the issues.

Thanks to Rama Valayden, attorney general and minister of Human rights, for daring to bring such a progressive piece of legislation to the table. This is the first time that Mauritius is discussing taboo words like sex, vagina, penis, anal sex and other sexual terms openly.

Some points still need clarification, such as sex trafficking of children and adults; offences covering commercial sexual exploitation related to pimps and others who force children and adults into prostitution; indecent exposure, etc. It is also unfortunate that the voices of those most concerned: victims, survivors, youth, sex workers, gays and lesbians, were largely absent from the debates.

However, the Bill is very much in line with the draft National Action Plan (NAP) to end Gender Violence, approved at an October 2006 workshop organised by Gender Links of South Africa and Media Watch Organization. Various ministries also collaborated, including Women, Child development and Family welfare; Justice and Human rights; Finance, Health; Local government; Social security; and Youth and Sports. Representatives from the police, religious leaders, CEDEM, PILS, Natresa, Centre de Solidarite, Chrysalide and other non-governmental organisations as well as civil society were also present.

The NAP recommends that the Sexual Offences Bill encompass a wider definition of rape, including marital rape, as well as protection against human trafficking and harsher penalties. It recommends provisions for comprehensive treatment and empowerment of victims, and video recording of complaints to reduce distress of survivors.

One of the major causes of disagreement and public outcry of this Bill is on the legalisation of anal sex. We know too well that women do make complaints in private on marital rape, sodomy and putting the penis and other objects in parts of their bodies. It has been difficult for these women to take the matter further as the police are very rarely sympathetic to what happens in private.

Other countries around the world repealed such laws long ago. Britain repealed the laws against anal sex in 1967, over four hundred years after their first adoption in 1553. While they were in place, these antiquated laws resulted in the persecution of many, including two great worldwide figures, Oscar Wilde and John Gielgud.

In 1895 soon after his triumphant The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde's love and passion for another man resulted in his arrest, conviction and sentencing to two years of hard labour. In the unreformed Dickensian prison, a series of illnesses brought him to his death.

The great Sir Alec Guinness who was cleverer than the knighted John Gielgud, gave a false name when he was arrested in 1946 for his homosexual inclination. It was only eight months after his death in 2001 that the Sunday Times revealed his struggle with his sexual orientation. Gielgud paid for his honesty and was arrested in 1953.

We keep on saying that we are the most democratic country in the Southern African Development Community, but when will we become a nation where tolerance prevails? Must we wait hundreds of years, as in Britain?

The Sexual Offences Act is urgent. In the name of the thousands of victims, can't we for once put aside our political pettiness, our prudishness and our puritanism and ask that this question be sorted out quickly. Time is against us; women and children have suffered for too long.

There is also a need to look into the question of perpetrators in the Bill. It is true that 45 to 60 years is a long time, and we are not sure if this will be a deterrent. The NAP recommends provisions for rehabilitation of perpetrators.

The United Nations (UN) Secretary General's study on Ending Violence against Women: From Words to Action, published in October 2006, stressed that the most effective weapon to fight violence against women is a clear demonstration of political commitment, such as statements by high-level government officials, backed by action and the commitment of resources by the State. It also proposes that states should take urgent and concrete measures to secure gender equality and protect women's human rights.

The Sexual Offences Bill is a start in the right direction of the UN Study. Let us hope that the Select Committee appointed to look into this Bill will come out with its recommendations urgently so that the Bill is enacted. It is only then that women, children, gays, lesbians, sex workers and the most vulnerable will feel safe in Mauritius.

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