JAMAICANS for Justice (JFJ) wants the joint select committee of Parliament tasked with reviewing the proposed sexual harassment legislation to reform the provision imposing a 12-month limit on complaints brought by victims before the tribunal.

“This proposed limitation restricts victims' rights to effectively access justice and ignores many of the most obvious underlying issues associated with sexual harassment.

Jamaicans for Justice believes that Section 25 (3) sends a message that is inconsistent with the spirit and the purpose of the proposed legislation and ultimately diminishes its scope as a mechanism created to protect victims from sexual harassment,” the release said.

The rights groups said it has written to members of the joint select committee, outlining its reasoning on the issue and a detailed analysis of why the amount of time given for reporting sexual matters should be more.

We are urging the committee to amend the Bill by either removing the limitation being proposed or where such is deemed necessary, to create a limit that allows for the longest reasonable time for a complaint to be made which is consistent with the limits that already exist for other civil claims,” said the human rights group.