New programme will offer support to released sex offenders

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A community programme to support sex offenders will be launched by the Coalition for the Protection of Children and Women’s Resource Centre later this year.

The Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) is modelled on a successful project in Canada, and training and information sessions will begin in Bermuda in December.

According to Sheelagh Cooper from the Coalition, it resulted in an 85 percent drop in the reoffending rate in Canada.

COSA brings community volunteers together with offenders after their release from jail to form a supportive network around them. The volunteers provide help and practical guidance in areas such as developing offenders’ social skills, helping them find suitable accommodation and assisting them with appropriate hobbies and interests.

The volunteers also hold the offenders accountable for their actions by helping them recognise patterns of thought and behaviour that could lead to reoffending, and assisting them with developing healthy relationships.

Similar projects have been set up in the US and UK, and analysis of the results has shown they have dramatically cut rates of recidivism, and increased feelings of community safety.

Mrs Cooper said: “The best protection from sexual predators comes from having them treated properly and having them held accountable to whatever conditions are placed on them if they are released from prison.”

“We have someone coming down to Bermuda in the first week of December to do some training and establish this programme. We are going to invite members of the public who are interested in participating. We will be working closely with the courts once it’s established with the judges, parole board and probation service.”

Elaine Williams of the Women’s Resource Centre said: “The initiative is a part of the solution. The instance of sexual violence is increasing in Bermuda and we aim not only to prevent the instance by way of awareness and education, but to provide support for offenders who want to lead healthy relationships and re-integrate into the community.”

Further details on COSA are available via the Chaplaincy section of the Canadian Department of Corrections website at www.csc-scc.gc.ca and on the UK project’s website at www.circles-uk.org.uk. Anyone who wishes to volunteer can contact the Coalition for the Protection of Children on cpc@ibl.bm or 295-1150.

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