NASSAU, BAHAMAS — With an increase in sexual offenses last year, parents must be more responsible for their daughters, said Minister of National Security Marvin Dames yesterday.

According to police statistics, there was a 34 percent increase in sexual offenses in 2020 involving rape, unlawful sexual intercourse and attempted rape, with the Sexual Offences Unit investigating 213 cases last year.

Dames said: “The concern with me with those numbers is the unlawful sex and that has always been something that has been with us and sometimes it goes underreported.

“It really speaks to us and our roles as parents and knowing where our kids are, especially our young girls and who they are involved with, who they are hanging out with, who they are communicating with in virtual spaces on social media because a lot of things take place on social media that feeds into this.

“So, we recognize that this is certainly an area that we will have to continue to work on and direct our efforts and our energies. Working with families, working with communities and working through the schools and getting our young girls and young men in particular, in getting to see why this is a problem.”

Of those cases last year, there were 50 incidents of rape, representing a 16 percent increase in the crime compared to the previous year; and five attempted rapes, representing a 38 percent decrease compared to the eight attempted rapes in 2019.

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