IN Europe, it is a requirement for anyone working with children to be cleared by the Police of any sex-related offence.
Yet in third world countries like Zambia, we have a record number of adults working with children in schools, hospitals, orphanages and even churches despite being cleared of any sex-related offences.
Are we not putting children in the danger-zone?
Even with the rampant sex-related cases against minors being reported in the media, Zambia like many other third world countries has lamentably failed to put these monsters on the sex offenders list in case they strike again.
This laissez faire approach has led to people who have sex offences to their names allowed to work with children.
The sex offender list is a system designed to allow authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences.
In some jurisdictions, such as in the United States, registration is accompanied by residential address notification requirements.
The information in the registry is made available to the general public via a website or other means like fingerprints kept in all police stations’ data banks.
Considering that these registered sex offenders are a menace to society especially children, some authorities even subject them to additional restrictions, including on housing.
Those on parole or probation may be subject to restrictions that don’t apply to others.
Why then are we treating this group of misfits with kid-gloves by allowing them back in society without focusing a spotlight on them?
Since Zambia is a signatory to many clauses internationally, we should impose restrictions of sex offenders as is the case in European countries.
Among several restrictions European countries impose, include restricting sex offenders from being in the presence of minors, living in proximity to a school or daycare center, owning toys or other items of interest to minors, or using the Internet.
A reminder to Zambian children rights non-governmental organisations and Victim Support Units found at most Police stations in the country is that sex offender registries exist in nearly all English-speaking countries, including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Britain and Ireland.
Regionally, South Africans hailed the country for the introduction of the sex offenders list after the arrest of a Knysna deputy headmaster as well as members of an alleged international paedophile ring, which included doctors, headmasters and teachers.
Some parents even expressed their outrage that this register is not accessible to them and is only accessible directly by the National Registrar for Sex Offenders and indirectly by the South African Police Service, the Department of Correctional Services, the Department of Health and the Department of Social Development.
As things stand, anyone can commit a sex offence against a minor regardless of their standing in society.
Sex offenders do not come from another planet. They are people we live with and include the so called respectable members of society.
Evidence in the media abound of once hallowed groups of people whose reputation has now been tainted by sex offences against minors.
These include the clergy, teachers, orphanage managers, health workers, child minders and even parents.
The solution is to introduce a sex offenders’ list that can be backdated to include anyone who has been convicted of sex offences being put under surveillance.
This radical proposal follows some media reports of hapless children being molested in orphanages where they are supposed to be cared for.
Some years back, Zambia was shocked by a story of some orphanage manager of foreign heritage who was convicted of sex offences against orphans in Kitwe. OPINION