DOMINICA-Dominica introduces legislation to protect children born out of wedlock.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – The Dominica government Tuesday tabled several pieces of legislation that it said will correct a “historical and generational wrong” concerning children born out of wedlock.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told legislators that he believes today should be regarded as a “red letter day,” adding that “the series of laws, therefore, will offer protection for spouses in divorce, parents, and grandparents unable to care for themselves, children, who are abused and neglected and victims of domestic violence,”

He said that by bringing these measures to the Parliament, his administration demonstrated its seriousness about protecting children, women, and older people “whose rights are most often trampled upon.”

He said the legislation guides providing care and security for children “so they are assured more hopeful futures.

Skerrit said that the Status of Children Bill aims to establish equal rights for all children regardless of their parents or their parent’s marital status.

“In simple terms, the law is concerned with children’s rights to take an interest in the property and addresses the entitlement of a child born outside of marriage. It legitimizes children, ensuring that the issue of paternity is not held over their heads as a disqualifying factor in matters of succession.

“In essence, the law eliminates the disheartening and often cruel discrimination that many of us have had to contend with due to the cultural and societal norms of small cari8bbean societies,” Skerrit said, reminding legislators that many are familiar with the phrase “outside children” about babies born out of wedlock and family structure.

“Several of us may be all too familiar with what it means to be an outside child, looked down upon and made to feel less than and, in many cases, ostracised by our very sisters and brothers who were fortunate to be born as legitimate heirs of our fathers.”

Skerrit said that this situation formed the genesis of the legislation, and we are seeking to correct a historical and generational wrong in our society. From today, this will end in the Commonwealth of Dominica”.

Earlier, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Social Services, with special responsibility for Seniors’ Security, Children at Risk, Gender Affairs, and the Differently Abled, Cassandra Williams, told Parliament that the Status of Children Bill is among several pieces of legislation being tabled, including Children Care and Adoption Bill, Maintenance of Children Bill and Domestic Violence Bill.

She said the sub-regional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), in partnership with the Office of the Attorney General here, had played an integral role in shaping the various pieces of legislation.

“This is extremely important …as the legislative agenda of any nation requires the enactment of new legislation as well as the reform of legislation,” she said, adding that the five bills should be considered part of the legislative reform exercise.

“Fundamentally, the bills are meant to uphold human rights as enshrined in the Constitution and compliance to Dominica’s obligations having ratified United Nations conventions like the Convention on the Right of the Child….”

She said the purpose of the Status of Children Bill is to provide for the equal status of children and to remove all discriminatory provisions in the law relating to a child born out of wedlock.

She said the bill also applies to a child whether or not they are born in Dominica, were born before the commencement of the Act, or the child’s parents have ever been domiciled here.

“It is instructive to know that when the bill becomes law, Dominica would, for the first time, have a Status of Children Act to provide for the equal status of children and to remove all discriminatory provisions in the laws relating to a child borne out of wedlock.

“Fathers are to be given equal rights on the establishment of paternity and therefore parental obligations in respect of the child,” she told legislators as she tabled the pieces of legislation.