One of the reasons sexual exploitation of children flourishes in the open is due to a lack of legal enforcement of this crime. Many countries, Thailand included, have yet to create, implement and enforce laws that protect children from sex predators. A recent article published by Time, “A Move to Register Sex Offenders Globally,” spoke to this concern.
In the article, author Deena Guzder advocates supporting a bill on the House floor, H.R. 1623, also known as “International Megan’s Law.” If passed, H.R. 1623 will establish communication between international governments and legal bodies to ensure known sex offenders do not harm children overseas. According to Bill sponsor, N.J. Representative, Chris Smith, H.R. 1623 will “alert officials abroad when U.S. sex offenders intend to travel and would encourage other countries to keep sex offender lists and notify American officials about offenders’ U.S. travel plans.”
The passing of H.R. 1623 is a key step to establishing a force-able zero-tolerance law against the sexual exploitation of children worldwide. Says Smith, “The buyers of commercial sex must be sensitized to the harm they cause women and girls and to the fact their money fuels modern-day slavery.”
H.R. 1623, “International Megan’s Law,” is set to appear before the House floor (again) this month, October 2009. We, SOLD Interns, are asking you to get involved. Two simple steps is all it takes to express your desire to see children protected around the world and perpetrators of child abuse brought to justice.
We are asking you to contact your House Representative and encourage them to support the passing of H.R. 1623.
Below is a template you can use via email or voicemail:
Dear Representative (Name):
As a constituent in the state of (your state), I am very concerned about the
sexual exploitation of children globally at the hands of known sex offenders. I strongly encourage you to pass H.R. 1623, “International Megan’s Law,” which will create an international sex offender list and foster international communication and cooperation in preventing known sex offenders from harming children overseas.
Thank You,
(your name)
(your city, state)
~Susan Tripi DeLano
Posts
3 comments:
Thanks Susan for posting this!
Yeah, right. The National Registration laws have been implemented SO well, let's make it international ! This is the same bogus argument that says: since the government cannot run a post office efficiently, let's let them run our health care system.
The national registration laws are bogged down in litigation in every state, plagued with constitutional infringements, and facing societal rejection even from those who don't have a personal interest in sex offender laws. More and more citizens are seeing these laws as what they are: ineffective, unfair, retroactive punishments, and many studies are showing it's effects are downright counter-productive!
www.constitutionalfights.org
Thank you for responding. I can see you have put much thought into the matter. Reviewing the website you posted leads me to gather you are an advocate for protecting the constitutional rights of sex offenders who have served time, been released and are looking to start a new life. I can respect this effort to help ensure such individuals realize successful transitions and societal reintegration without the stigma and scrutiny forced upon them by legal requirements to ‘join’ a national registry.
I would imagine the sexual abuse of minors is equally disturbing and wrong to you--if not more so--than the constitutional infringements you feel are present in national sex offender registry laws, and that you would therefore want to see children protected from adults with ill intentions.
To this end, what would you say is the common ground? If you feel the creation of an international sex registry is counterproductive to the goal of protecting children from sexual exploitation, what are some viable options you can suggest to ensure children are kept safe from predators who seek to engage in sexual activity with minors?
While I am in no way suggesting that every adult who sexually exploits a child (domestically or abroad) is a formerly convicted sex offender, the reality is that some convicted sex offenders do travel to other countries with the intention of participating in sexual acts with minors. While the implementation of laws like H.R. 1623 may not be perfect, they are just one part of the multi-faceted strategy to establish laws to protect children from sexual abuse.
~Susan
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