The National Child Protection Authority said that it is planning to prepare a list of people convicted of child sexual abuse.
Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority, Senior Lecturer Udaya Kumara Amarasinghe said that this step has been taken considering the risk to children from such perpetrators. He made this statement while attending a press conference held at the Health Promotion Bureau.
Speaking to the media Amarasinghe said; “Those who have been convicted of child abuse offenses, especially sexual abuse offenses, and return to the premises where children are, could pose a risk to those children. Therefore, a system should be devised to limit these situations. We have proposed several methods so far. The Child Protection Authority is planning to create a register of the convicts of child abuse. Even if they are released, only those who need their information can obtain them. Secondly, we are discussing whether we can introduce legal provisions to restrict or prevent those convicted of serious sexual abuse from entering premises where they deal directly with children, even after serving their sentences.”
Amarasinghe also said that there is some increase in the cases of sexual abuse of children in the last year (2023).
According to Amarasinghe, 1,618 cases of rape of girls under the age of 18 have been reported throughout Sri Lanka in 2022, and this has increased to 1,639 in 2023. In addition, there have been 1,232 incidents of sexual assault that have been reported in 2022, and such incidents have increased to 1,497 in 2023. He added that in 2022, 13 cases of ‘child sexual abuse’ have been reported and in 2023, it has risen to 22 cases.
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