Grenada police has confirmed that it is investigating a report of what is described as “distribution of child pornography photos” via the social media Facebook involving a female Grenadian student and member of the opposite sex.
The photos which were posted and shared via the social media medium Tuesday were removed after a number of persons reported the matter to Facebook as abuse. “However, it was not done immediately, and a number of persons were able to see and shared the album before it was removed” said one person who reported the matter to Facebook.
On Wednesday, Head of the Community Relations Department ASP Dunbar Belfon, said that they are aware of the matter and it is under investigation. “This matter about the student was drawn to our attention and is presently being probed by the relevant departments,” he said.
Section 179 of Grenada’s Criminal Code says that whoever unlawfully and carnally knows any female, being of or above thirteen years and under sixteen years of age, whether with or without her consent, shall be liable to imprisonment for five years; while Section 180 says whoever by threats, deceit or duress, or by administration of any intoxicating or other matter, procures any female to permit carnal knowledge otherwise than in marriage, shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
Grenada does not have specific laws on cyber laws with regards to the distribution of sexual material,s but the country has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child in 1990 and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on 06 February 2012.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights — civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them, because people under 18 years of age often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too.
The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography is a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and requires states to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Article 1 of the protocol declares that States must protect the rights and interests of child victims of trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography and child labour, and especially the worst forms of child labour.
The remaining articles in the protocol outline the standards for international law enforcement, covering diverse issues such as jurisdictional factors, extradition, mutual assistance in investigations, criminal or extradition proceedings and seizure and confiscation of assets as well.
It also obliges nations to pass laws within their own territories against these practices “punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature.”
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