Calls are growing for lawmakers to set at least a six-year deadline for the reporting of sexual harassment.

Pressure is mounting in the wake of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck’s jocular dismissal of harassment reports beyond 12 months of the offence happening.

Immediate past president of the Jamaica Council of Churches, the Rev Merlyn Hyde Riley, believes victims should not be time-barred from exposing perpetrators of harassment, similarly to sexual crimes like rape.

Human-rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) also wants lawmakers to rethink a 12-month limit for sexual harassment reports.

The organisation would also prefer no timeline on harassment reports but agrees that six years should be the minimum.