Prevention, therapy among functions of sex offenders' list

A sex offenders' register should not be limited to a name-and-shame-style list but include information about potential victims and abusers, the chairman of the Maltese Association of Social Workers, Anthea Agius believes.

Stressing the preventative role of the register, Ms Agius said it should contain information that contributes towards the protection and therapy of victims and offenders and the rehabilitation of abusers.

The way the registers is used, and who has access to its contents, is crucial to its success.

"Different parts of the information should be available to different people at different times," she said. For instance, those at risk of abusing should be in contact with a professional to help them but is not necessarily to be made known to others in the community. However, a convicted abuser should be known to be the police, she said.

Children's Commissioner Carmen Zammit said earlier this week she was working on a paedophile register and has started consultations with the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children to examine how other countries implement the register.

After her office took this initiative, a panel of experts will start discussing the technicalities early next year.

Agreeing with the introduction of a register, Ms Agius said this should be compiled following consultations between the police, social workers, educators and representatives of similar services.

She argues that a mere list of convicts and former perpetrators may result in increasing the vulnerability of both victims and abusers as it would lead to a sense of false security - abusers are usually close to victims and "not a dirty old man in a raincoat waiting to pounce on you".

Ms Agius explained that, for example, the register may include information about families at risk of abuse and, therefore, be the basis for providing early therapy and services in the community.

For this to succeed, public collaboration is vital in seeking professional help whenever it is suspected that someone is at risk of abusing or being abused. This would ensure the preventive aspect in sex abuse cases are strengthened as help would be given before the incident takes place.

Joe Gerada, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said last week he was in favour of the register, adding it should not be public but accessible to social agencies.

He cautioned against a false sense of security and urged professionals not to shirk from reporting child abuse cases "because the safety of children comes before confidentiality".

Fr Mark Montebello, from the NGO Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl that fights for prisoners' rights, believes the suggestion to introduce the register is "outright preposterous" and "a copy-cat measure" of registers introduced in large countries.

"In a closed and compact society, such a register will be a further tool to persecute people unfairly. Further, a sex offenders' register will gloss over the very pronounced differences that exist between cases. It will thus include inane cases as if they were very serious...

"It is a superficial measure that seems to be doing something but which evidently leaves out the other matters we need to be working on. For example, providing or making treatment available to people," Fr Montebello cautioned.