Policy Briefing 2: Proposals Concerning the Establishment of a Register of Sex Offenders

Abstract

The growing recognition over the past fifteen years of the reality of the sexual abuse of children has brought in its wake international debate concerning legal remedies, therapeutic programmes and the need to introduce new measures to afford additional protection to children. One of the most emotive and controversial elements of this debate has concerned the establishment of registers of sex offenders. Unfortunately this issue has tended to generate more heat than light. Much of the argument has been based on attitude and ideology, rather than an objective evaluation of the capacity and limitations of such registers to protect children. Seemingly extreme measures have been adopted in some jurisdictions to give information to communities about the whereabouts of convicted offenders, without commensurate guarantees as to their effectiveness in protecting children. At the same time registers can give false assurances that the situation is under control when in fact it is only details of offenders who have been convicted, that they contain.