Email

Print

Last night, we told about the Equal Opportunities Bill and the public consultations that the government and its partners are preparing to hold. 

Starting on Saturday, they will be traveling to different parts of the country to get input from Belizeans about the draft legislation that's been in development for over a year.

The Equal Opportunities Bill was created to address the social ills that result from 19 different forms of discrimination. The legislation seeks to empower these key minority groups with a mechanism to confront any injustices they may have suffered due to unfair treatment borne of prejudice. These include discrimination due to characteristics such their race, religion, and gender.

Well, the National Aids Commission, in partnership with the Caribbean Partnership Against HIV & AIDS (PANCAP), the Human Dignity Trust, and the Special Envoy for Women and Children, believe that the time is right to give victims of discrimination better protection under the law. 

Now, you've already heard the pastors from the National Evangelical Association of Belize raise alarm about the bill. They are not pleased that one of the groups being empowered is the gay community. The Equal Opportunities Bill now seeks to protect LGBT Belizeans from discrimination due to their sexual orientation.

But, the drafters of the bill are asserting that it is bigger than simply one class of marginalized citizens. They've spent an entire year crafting this piece of draft legislation, taking inspiration from the CARICOM Model Bill for anti-discrimination. And they've tailored it to fit Belize's context.

This morning, key personalities behind the draft legislation began making the media rounds.

We approached them for comment after they finished a LOVEFM morning show.  We spoke to House Speaker Laura Tucker-Longsworth, who also sits as the Chair of the National Aid Commission, and two of the legal minds behind the bill:

Randall Sheppard - Crown Counsel, AG Ministry
"The purpose of the bill is really to unequal treatment, and it's called an Equal Opportunities Bill. So, it is affording certain protected groups equal opportunities when it comes to employment when it comes to education when comes to land use - all of these areas. So, all of these are listed in the bill, and we're looking at protected groups. So, there's a list of protected characteristics. So, we're looking at race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, other areas we'd have - persons suffering from domestic violence. So, these are all captured under the draft bill that we have."

Rashad Brathwaite - Consultant/Legal Draftsperson
"So, the legislation, for example, would provide for protection in employment. So, employment is widely defined whether you are working in a traditional employment relationship, an independent contractor. What is important in that context is the work that you doing. A woman, for example, may be discriminated against on the basis that she is young and married, and therefore, likely to have children. The bill, therefore, prohibits discrimination on that basis. That's just one of the characteristics, and 19 characteristics are protected - are prohibited grounds of discrimination under the legislation, subject to exceptions."

Hon. Laura Tucker-Longsworth - Chair, NAC
"This process took a year. We've done a lot of investigation. We've done a lot of legal assessments. The bill has - we looked at other consequential bills that need amendment. We have done some of the amendments to the Criminal Code as well. The process has been inclusive, very comprehensive. The team has met with over 22 different groups of persons, civil society, business, and so on, religious groups, and despite what you hear, all sectors were involved, in the religious community, and they were informed about what is taking place. And now, we doing the consultations, starting Saturday, for every day, and there's a schedule that the community can get on our Facebook page, or calling our office, and further amendments. Each time we've met with people, we've taken their suggestions. For some reason, we did not even include political harassment or discrimination, and that's now in the bill. The next step would be the consultation. We will have the recommendations. We'll look at it."

Reporter
"So, a few months, a year…"

Hon. Laura Tucker-Longsworth
"No, this is ready like now. This is ready. The draft bill is ready. It's just that we're looking to make sure that all the issues, people are aware of all the sections in there, and if anything in there is problematic, for us to address it before it gets to the Prime Minister's - the Cabinet's desk."