The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
2.6 The Deputy of St. Martin of the Minister for Home Affairs regarding the draft Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 200- (P.63/2006):
In paragraph 56 of page 17 of the Draft Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 200- (P63/2006) it is claimed that the current inequality in the Law forces young gay men into heterosexual relationships. Would the Minister advise Members what personal documentary evidence she has to substantiate this claim and what information she has received to indicate the extent to which this occurs?
Senator W. Kinnard (The Minister for Home Affairs):
I fear that the Deputy of St. Martin may have misunderstood that part of paragraph 56 of which he refers. The second part of that paragraph summarises the views of those members of the public who gave their written views on the proposed legislation. As well as the statement extracted for the question, there were 4 other points recorded in the same sentence which reflect the main comments made by respondents. None of
these are claims made by the Home Affairs Department. They are unsolicited opinions of the general public, which are openly included in the report. In compiling the report in particular, I sought to record all the views fairly. To that end, paragraph 57 of the report, which follows the paragraph referred to in this question, summarises the main points made by those respondents who were against lowering the age of consent.