Let’s recall when the One Bermuda Alliance was in power:

• No legislative reforms or updates to strengthen sentencing for sexual offences against minors

• No implementation of a sex offender registry, despite public pressure and growing awareness of community safety risks

• No alerts to the community when high-risk or repeat sexual offenders were released into our communities

• No action in response to repeated public calls from non-profit advocacy groups and survivors to strengthen protections and implement prevention-focused training for educators and youth leaders

• No action when high-profile offenders received lenient sentences, failing to challenge or amend weak sentencing norms.

Robert King’s words ring painfully true. The system under the OBA lacked urgency, oversight and accountability.

The Progressive Labour Party believes that survivors deserve protection and justice, and should not be exploited for political gain.

That’s why the PLP:

• Requires offenders to complete treatment before release, sets minimum ten-year supervision orders, and created the Offender Risk Management Team

• Implemented Sex Offender Register with mandatory supervision, monitoring and penalties for breaches

• Launched a five-year Domestic Abuse Strategy to improve prevention, response and accountability

• Appointed a Domestic Abuse Liaison, the first certified liaison social worker to support survivors across police, legal and health services

• Pushed for a multi-agency team to meet regularly to co-ordinate support for high-risk survivors

• Enabled public notification of high-risk sex offenders

• Strengthened sentencing guidelines for child-related sexual crimes to reflect their severity

• Partnered with community organisations such as Scars to extend protective training for educators, parents, coaches and caregivers — because safeguarding begins at home and school

To survivors, please know your voice matters and that we hear you.

The PLP is committed to ensuring that:

• Justice is prompt fair, and survivor‑centred

• Perpetrators are held accountable and prevented from harming others again

• Community safety is restored and trust rebuilt

To those who genuinely want to side with survivors, we urge you to join us. The system requires transformation and we can’t do it alone.

Together we can put in place systems that deliver real outcomes and leave behind the legacy of delay and neglect.

• Lindsay Simmons is a government senator and the Junior Minister of Social Development, Youth and Seniors, and Home Affairs