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The joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament which reviewed the Sexual Harassment Bill has suggested widening the categories of persons who can be sexually harassed to include student-to-student and employee-to-employer.
The report from the JSC, which was tabled by Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports Olivia "Babsy" Grange in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, said that, "the committee agreed that sexual harassment can be perpetuated by clients, from one student to another, and that employers can be harassed by employees".
In terms of the Limitation of Action, the committee agreed that the time limit allowed for the reporting of sexual harassment cases should be six years and not 12 months.
The increased time limit was among a number of controversial proposals which came from the human rights group Jamaicans For Justice, after a row within the committee which was fuelled by Justice Minister Delroy Chuck's disagreement with a limit beyond 12 months.
The report said that the committee recommended that the 12-member Sexual Abuse Tribunal, which is to be established to hear complaints, be empowered to enlarge time - which means granting permission to a complainant, who complains out of time, to bring his or her matter to the tribunal.
However, it cautioned that, "such permission should only be granted, once the complainant can give reason as to why the complaint was not made in time".
The committee also made a proposal regarding the review period for the legislation. The initial Bill had a review period of five years, however, the committee felt that given the unique nature of the legislation, an earlier review period was needed.
"This earlier review period would evaluate the efficacy of the systems and structures that will be involved in the use of this legislation. For those reasons, it was agreed that a review period of eighteen months would be significant," Grange told the House of Representatives.
She said that the need to maintain a confidential register in sexual harassment cases is crucial, and was so in cases where several complaints of sexual harassment are often made internally before any judicial involvement arises.
"Under this legislation, an employer, or a person in charge of an institution, has a duty to keep and maintain a register," she said.
The register will detail all information relative to a sexual harassment complaint to include: (a) the name of the parties to the sexual harassment claim; (b) the particulars of the sexual harassment claim; (c) the date on which the sexual harassment claim was lodged; (d) any action taken by the employer or person in charge of an institution in relation to the sexual harassment claim; (e) such other particulars relating to the sexual harassment claim as may be prescribed.
Grange said the start of the debate on the legislation would be postponed to next Tuesday when the House meets again, due to several critical matters which were being addressed this week.
 
SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland - Tracy-Ann Baker sat outside the Savanna-la-Mar Primary School with her young son for much of yesterday as her older child attended classes inside.
She had hoped to enrol them both for summer classes but school administrators told her there was no way to accommodate her toddler who is not yet their student. He begins grade one at the school in September.
Apart from that disappointing news, Baker was happy with the way the day progressed.
"My son not being able to go to class is my main issue right now, but it's good otherwise. I see dem following protocols and I'm glad they can get out the house," she told the Jamaica Observer.
For Franz Collins who has a son attending the school, his concern was what he thought was a lapse in security. School administrators, he explained, had instructed parents to gather at one spot, an attempt to prevent clusters of people. However, this move, he said, had left the children vulnerable.
"When the children come out of class they have to search for their parents or wait for them. This girl is waiting on her parents and someone could just come and say they're here for her and just take her. I don't like that," Collins said.
The issue was later rectified as multiple staff members were dispatched to ensure only parents or guardians were gaining access to students.
For most parents, their major concern was that classes were only being offered two days each week.
That was a similar concern for parents of students attending Sir Clifford Campbell Primary, said Principal Lorna Harvey-Gooden. At that location, though the turnout of students was less than anticipated, there were glowing commendations for the children that showed up.
"Today is our second day and because it is the first week we don't have as many children as we thought we would; but the children that were here were so quiet and well-behaved," said Harvey-Gooden who stressed that all safety protocols were being observed.
Primary schools across the island opened their doors for face-to-face classes this week as part of the Ministry of Education's Recover Smarter - National School Learning and Intervention Plan (NSLIP) which is aimed at helping students recover from learning loss due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.