Cayman’s long-awaited legislation addressing the issue of sexual harassment looks unlikely to be debated by the end of this year as officials confirm that the report coming out of the public consultations has yet to go through caucus and Cabinet for approval.
Mahreen Nabi, vice president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, speaking on Wednesday’s episode of the Cayman Compass Facebook lunchtime show ‘The Resh Hour’, questioned the delay in moving the legislation forward.
“They did two rounds [of public consultations] instead of one, and I listened in on some of those town halls… [there were] really important questions and information that came out of that to inform what’s going to be in the bill, but [I’m] a little disappointed that it’s not been pushed forward a little more quickly,” she said.
Nabi pointed out that Premier Wayne Panton had said the bill would be passed this year, and that “was the expectation of BPW members and those who have been invested in this”.
With a 28-day timeline for gazettal of bills before debate and the national budget debate on the horizon, it is possible Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill will not be debated in Parliament until 2024.
Commenting on the bill’s status, the Office of the Premier said, “The second round of public consultation on the draft Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill has been completed and the team have finalised their report. The next step is for the matter to go through Caucus and Cabinet, and if approved, it is gazetted as a draft bill.”
“It is unlikely to be debated in Parliament during the budget session, due to the 28-day notice,” it added.
Nabi said when the premier made an announcement to open public consultation in March this year, the Business and Professional Women’s Club, which has been campaigning for legislation to combat sexual harassment for years, “was thrilled”.
She said many people who had worked on the foundation of the legislation were saying “Thank goodness, finally we’re really happy and excited.”
However, she said, in her view, “we’re a little bit behind” and the process should be moving faster.
The road to the proposed legislation began back in 2006, when the Business and Professional Business Women’s Club set up a Sexual Harassment and Stalking Task Force, led by the Young Business and Professional Women’s Club and its then president Joannah Bodden-Small.
The task force carried out a survey which found that two in five people had experienced sexual harassment.
The results of the survey and the task force’s work were submitted to government, with a recommendation that legislation be drafted. Following the work done by the task force, in 2012, the Law Reform Commission published a draft law on sexual harassment for public consultation.
Hoping for speedy passage
Nabi said while she is thankful to see the bill move to the point it has in 2023, her organisation had hoped it would have been law at least by the end of this year.
“I’m hoping that when it gets to Parliament, there isn’t going to be much debate on it,” she said. “There’s been plenty of opportunity for anyone, both at an official level and an open level, to give feedback to how that bill is formed.
In the meantime, she said, local businesses do not need to wait until the law is passed to implement a formal policy on sexual harassment.
“I would suggest that if companies currently don’t have something in place that they look to the draft legislation as a guide to create something before end of year. You don’t have to wait till the end of the year to put your company or your organisation a step ahead in that regard,” she said.
Dr. Katheryn Whittaker, of Aspire Therapeutic Services, appearing on the show, addressed the psychological implications for victims dealing with sexual harassment.
“A lot of them suffer from, obviously, shame, guilt even, but a lot of it is anxiety and depression, and [deciding] ‘Should I stay or should I go?’. That’s so stressful and so worrying on the victim. That’s what we see mainly see.
“[There’s] also the trauma aspects of it. There’s a lot of post-traumatic stress, a lot of acute stress disorder-type symptoms that come up,” she said.
Whittaker added that victims of sexual harassment can reach out to the many organisations on island for help and mental health support, if they do not feel comfortable speaking to family or friends.
She said the CayMind helpline, 1-800-534-6463 (MIND), is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and is manned by professionals.
“You can pick up the phone and if someone doesn’t answer, we will call them back,” she said.
Nabi added that if anyone in a serious and dangerous situation should call 911.
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