The Police Service insists that everyone, including doctors, must report underage pregnancies.Anyone who fails to do so could face a fine of $15,000 or imprisonment for seven years, or both, said Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joanne Archie, police public affairs officer. The Sexual Offences Act says a medical practioner who examines a minor and has reason to believe a sexual offence has been committed against him or her must report it to the police.Asked to respond to Archie's statement, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan in a text message yesterday said he would have to seek legal advice on the matter.The issue of underage pregnancies came to the fore earlier this week when Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said there were some 2,500 pregnancies among schoolgirls each year. Gopeesingh made the statement in the Senate on Tuesday as he responded to a question from Independent senator Dr Victor Wheeler.Archie also warned that police would be moving "full speed ahead" to arrest perpetrators and those who knowingly fail to report such pregnancies, saying the situation was one of serious concern.
Her warning came on the heels of statements made by Margaret Sampson-Browne, head of the police Victims and Witness Support Unit, who called for doctors to be "locked up" because they were turning a blind eye to children being pregnant.Archie said: "In T&T, the issue of consent as it relates to sexual intercourse is superseded by age-of-consent laws. When we speak of consent we refer to the freedom to choose and the capacity to choose. The laws are there to protect minors, as they do not have the psychological capacity to give consent."All sexual interactions between an adult and a person under the age of consent are considered abusive."The Police Service, she added, has investigated and continues to investigate reports of statutory rape involving young girls between the ages of 14 and 16 and those under 14."In some cases there may be one victim with the same offender, but the offence may have occurred on several dates," Archie pointed out.
The age of consent under the Sexual Offences Act:Under Section 6(1), a man who has sex with a female person who is not his wife and who is under 14 is guilty of an offence whether or not she consents to the intercourse and whether or not at the time of the intercourse he believed her to be 14 years of age or more. He is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.Under this section the penalty is more severe than for the offence of sexual intercourse with a female between 14 and 16, which is covered by Section 7(1), Archie said.This carries a penalty of imprisonment for 12 years for a first offence and 15 years for a subsequent offence.
Sexual intercourse with minors under 14:
2011–125 investigations, 64 people charged
2012–126 investigations, 133 people charged
2013–80 investigations, 44 charged.
Sexual intercourse with minors 14-16:
2011–145 reported cases, 67 people charged
2012–226 cases, 133 charged
2013–117 cases, 43 charged
Doctors comment:Diego Martin Central MP Dr Amery Browne yesterday said there was no stipulation which prevented a doctor from reporting teenage pregnancies. In fact, he encouraged his medical colleagues to do what was right and alert the police if they had knowledge of a child being pregnant."If the health minister's statements serves to discourage the reporting of this phenomenon, which is already under-reported, then the Prime Minister has a very serious challenge on her hands," Browne said.Khan had said because of "doctor-patient confidentiality," doctors had no obligation to alert the police to teenage pregnancies.
But Browne insisted there was nothing preventing doctors from reporting an underage pregnancy."I absolutely believe a doctor has a duty to report this. There is also no conflict with the Hippocratic oath taken by a doctor," Browne added.Public relations officer of the T&T Medical Association Dr Austin Trinidade said the issue of reporting teenage pregnancies was a "grey matter" and one on which doctors were seeking clarification."We are not quite sure what the law is, but we are currently seeking clarification."If it is indeed the law to report this, then doctors would have no problem in reporting it," Trinidade assured.
Do doctors have to report?
Under Section 31 of the Sexual Offences Act:
31. (1) Any person who–
(a) is the parent or guardian of a minor
(b) has the actual custody, charge or control of a minor
(c) has the temporary custody, care, charge or control of a minor for a special purpose, as his attendant, employer or teacher, or in any other capacity; or
(d) is a medical practitioner, or a registered nurse or midwife, and has performed a medical examination in respect of a minor, and who has reasonable grounds for believing that a sexual offence has been committed in respect of that minor, shall report the grounds for his belief to a police officer as soon as reasonably practicable.
The offence of obstructing prosecution is also an offence under the Sexual Offences Act.