By the Caribbean Journal staff

Members of Cayman’s Legislative Assembly passed a new version of the island’s Gender Equality bill that incorporated feedback from community organisations and professional associations.

The Ministry of Gender Affairs spent the month of August working with the Attorney General’s chambers to make amendments to address concerns by various groups. In July, some groups, including the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, raised concerns at the time that the bill could raise the cost of doing business.

“The successful passage of this bill will help us move forward and become a society where gender equality is both the expected and the actual norm,” said Minister Mike Adam.

The new version revised definitions of employer and sexual harassment and contained an additional clause to address the issue of liability for employers.

The bill must still receive the assent of the governor and be published in the Cayman Islands Gazette, which is expected to occur before the bill’s commencement date, Jan. 31, 2012.