The push to get pepper spray legalised, to protect women in Cayman, has hit a wall as Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks has said he has been unable to get support from the National Security Council nor police to move law changes forward for its introduction here.
Ebanks, in response to Cayman Compass queries on the issue, appeared to be dejected that his effort to have pepper spray legalised was not moving forward.
“[I] could not get national security support on such an important matter. I just pray to God that all women be protected and be vigilant of their surroundings,” Ebanks told the Compass.
He said as a “fighter for the people” he will not give up on the issue, in spite of the impasse.
“I will continue to push it until it becomes law,” Ebanks said in his brief statement to the Compass last week, warning: “We need to find a solution to the problem before something really bad happens.”
Longstanding push for pepper spray
Earlier this year, Ebanks expressed concern over the growing number of incidents involving attacks against women within the community, from spiking of drinks to attacks while out running.
He vowed to take legislation to Parliament to allow women to carry pepper spray.
“No woman or person should be in fear to walk the streets of the Cayman Islands,” he said at the time, adding that, “it is the government’s job to protect its people and provide a safe environment for them.”
The minister, speaking back in January with the Compass, said he planned on seeing that the necessary changes were made to allow women to protect themselves by carrying pepper spray and “see that we bring stiffer penalties” for crimes against women.
It is currently illegal to carry pepper spray in the Cayman Islands.
There have been attempts in the past to raise the issue and allow for changes to the law to make it possible for women to protect themselves using pepper spray.
However, no substantive change has been made to-date.
Former Premier Alden McLaughlin, as part of the official Opposition back in 2011, took a motion to the House which called for the legalisation of pepper spray for personal protection.
The motion passed unanimously at that time, but was never brought into effect.
Even when he took office as premier, McLaughlin, though still supportive of the law change, did not move the issue forward.
Opposition MP Ezzard Miller, in 2019, sought to resuscitate that effort through another motion to have pepper spray legalised, after a woman was assaulted in North Side.
McLaughlin, at the time, supported that motion, but lamented there were still concerns about such weapons being used by the “wrong persons for the wrong reasons”.
He had also said, during the debate in 2011, that he was aware of women who were already carrying small cannisters of pepper spray.
He warned that if they were caught and convicted, under the Penal Code, they could face a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for up to four years.
Related Videos
