Allowing Access to Sex Offender Information
As a citizen of the United States from the beginning of the Sex Offender Registries until now, I must say that it was a grave mistake for our country to open this pandora's box.
While the registry was created from the best of intentions, it has created an absolute nightmare in the States. I can tell you right now that it will start as what was described in the article. Only the violent, predatorial offenders will be affected by this. But it will be no time at all before anyone and everyone who has ever been convicted of anything even remotely connected to a sex act will be on this registry. Once your Country determines that it's a popular thing (come on, who doesn't like "gossip" or to know the dirt on someone else? It's human nature) and that they can make money off of it, they will quickly widen the net and no one will be safe.
In the U.S. there are CHILDREN on this list now. CHILDREN!! As if our citizens have lost their collective minds, and have forgotten that children WILL experiment, and some start at very young ages. No one remembers "playing doctor?" I guess I'm the only one who will admit to it, and I was in early elementary school when I first played the game.
Please, I beg of you, study the mess this has created in the United States and LEARN from it. Once this ball starts rolling downhill there's no stopping it. Millions of people's lives ruined for having had CONSENSUAL sex at 18 with 16 year old girlfriends, because they are on this blasted registry. They can't get housing, they can't get work, they can't survive, and most of them have children of their own who are now suffering.
Yes, I realize that this article isn't talking about a registry available to the public...BUT, that's how ours started out as well. As soon as our politicians saw that the public was slobbering for this information and that to get elected OR re-elected, all they had to do was say, "Elect me and I will make sex offenders walk on their hands for the rest of their lives (so they can't touch anyone)" and they were a shoe in to win, more and more utterly ridiculously absurd laws as well as the registry being widened to include everyone and giving everyone access to it over the internet became a reality.
Expert after expert in this field have told the American Government that not only do these laws NOT work, they are detrimental to children, yet they don't listen and keep trying to outdo themselves by coming up with more.
They have created hysteria in my country, and it will happen in yours as well, if you don't keep your heads.
Your children are not in any real danger from strangers. They are in danger from people you know, your own family members are more likely to sexually abuse your child than anyone you could find on any registry.
Research for yourselves. Educate yourselves. Don't be swallowed up by this trap, and that's exactly what it is. It's quicksand that will suck you down so quickly you won't have time to catch a breath before going under.
Study the U.S. and learn from our mistakes. All of these, not only worthless, but EXTREMELY HARMFUL laws and gadgets the government came up with are costing our citizens MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of dollars to implement.
Please don't follow in our footsteps.