–Red Thread says poor victims often left to suffer

IT IS about exercise of power not of love, crushing the victims’ self-esteem and consigning them to an uncomfortable emotional state that is difficult to remove.
Even though many cases are not reported, the offence of rape is not rare or strange in Guyana.
For the first quarter of 2017, the majority of the 78 sexual abuse cases before the High Court pending trial involve rape.
While many suffer in silence, some victims have been brave enough to come forward in bringing their perpetrators to justice.
One such person is Sharon (not her real name), a resident of East Coast Demerara.
On January, 15, 2004 Sharon (not her real name) was on a regular visit to a close friend when she encountered a 21-year-old man, who was a cousin of her friend.
The now mother of two, who was 15 at the time,related that a conversation started with the man,whom she never met before,and centered around people, sports, cars and television shows.

The conversation lasted for an hour and ended when her best friend returned home,but it later continued shortly after when he butted in the conversation between Sharon and her friend.

“He started talking all sort of weird and sexual things, asking me if I had a boyfriend and if I ever had sex,” Sharon told Guyana Chronicle.

Feeling uncomfortable, the then 15-year-old decided to leave the conversation and entered the kitchen where her best friend’s mother was preparing a meal.

She did not make a complaint against the man at that time as she did not want a confrontation.

Sharon is from a traditional Indian family and her mother had warned her about underage sex and negative impact it has on the lives of young women.

KEPT SECRET

Two weeks passed and she did not tell her best friend about the unpleasant experience with her cousin.

Notwithstanding the entire ordeal, the teen who was an aspiring doctor, once again visited her friend on a weekend.

On this occasion, her best friend’s father was out and the mother was at the market. Only her best friend and the 21-year-old man were at home.

“I just didn’t worry with him and just ignored him and was with my friend watching television and trying to get some school work done, and I caught him staring at me all the time. I should have left and just went home but I never thought anything else but staring could have happened,” she related.

Sharon said the man begged her best friend to go buy a large bottle of drink so that everyone could have, leaving her alone with him to watch television.

In tears, the woman related that the 21-year-old man left the room, walked to the back of the house, and called out to her to help him remove a box.

BECOMING A VICTIM

“I didn’t think was anything else other than removing a box. He then pulled me into the room and locked the door behind me and raised up my skirt, pulling down my tights, bending me over and I don’t want to remember the rest,” she cried.

Gasping, Sharon said at the time of the rape, she was frozen with fear and tried to scream but was too traumatised.

“It was over in like three minutes but it felt like time stood still,” she said, recounting that soon after, the perpetrator told her “If I told anyone anything at all he would say it’s a lie and he would come to my school and tell everyone I was a slut and I gave him sex without even a date.”

Sharon continued: “When he walked out the door, he took with him my pride, my security and my dignity. I had so many thoughts going through my mind. What if I tell someone and they don’t believe me? Was it my fault? Not to mention the multiple feelings I had. Shame. Guilt. Anger. Fear. But most of all, disbelief. How could this happen to me? After that day, I never went to anybody’s home and my mother noticed I like to be alone a lot after that, she eventually knew after a long time what had happened.”

Ten years after the incident, she related what had happened to her mother but never made a report to the police because she did not trust anyone with the matter.

Now married and a mother of two, Sharon said she trusts no one with her daughter.

“I don’t allow nobody to tell me what is best for my children, because I know how cruel this world is and can be when you’re a woman,” she said.

MOST VULNERABLE

According to recent police statistics, 92 per cent of victims of sexual violence in cases examined were females; 43 per cent of girls in the 12-16 years age group are most vulnerable to sexual assaults; 26 per cent of girls between 1-12 years are the second most vulnerable group; and 69 per cent of victims of sexual violence cases are 16 years or below.

Some 44 per cent of sexual violence crimes reviewed were committed on persons of Afro-Guyanese descent, followed by Indo-Guyanese (27 per cent), Mixed and Amerindian races (13 per cent each) and Portuguese (three per cent).
The statistics also revealed that although cases of sexual violence are increasing, conviction rates have been undesirable.
Women and young girls are the primary targets. In a trial in Georgetown last year before Justice Bovell-Drakes, an accused charged with the offence of carnal knowledge of a girl under 12 was freed.
A formal verdict of not guilty was delivered by the jury upon the direction of the trial judge after the virtual complainant went into the witness box and stated that she did not wish to offer any evidence.
In the final quarter of 2016,during the Essequibo Criminal Assizes,a man accused of rape was put on retrial following a hung jury.
However, the man was granted bail in the sum of $300,000 on condition that he reports weekly to the Charity Police Station.
During 2016, 63 cases that included sexual abuse and rape were nolle prosequi (a formal notice of abandonment by a plaintiff) after victims withdraw their testimonies.
According to the Sexual Offences Act 2010, a sexual offence is any sexual violation on an individual that includes rape, and any other form of sexual assault, such as touching or causing the complainant to touch a third party in a sexual way.
The act envisions a society where individuals, particularly women and children are free from sexual molestation and abuse, and outlines the rights of the victims of sexual violations.
According to the “Sexual Trends amongst youths in Guyana”, a 2015 survey done by the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), one fifth of all sexually active youths surveyed reported being raped or coerced into their first sexual experience.
Women/girls were more affected, with a quarter of all sexually active females reporting a coerced sexual debut, compared to 14 per cent of sexually active males surveyed.

BOYS NOT EXCLUDED
However, males composed a significant 39 per cent of all rape victims. Almost three quarters (71 per cent) of rape victims had been under age 16 when they were raped. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) had been age 12 or younger.

Another survey titled: The good, the bad, and the ugly: A ‘snapshot’ of sexual knowledge, attitudes and practices among Guyanese youth aged 14-25, presents a valuable insight into Guyana’s youth population and provides a baseline for a comprehensive study to address sexual trends and behaviour of adolescents and to enable them to live a healthy lifestyle, realising their dreams and working to build a flourishing nation.
According to the United States Department report on human rights for 2015, a large number of cases of rape and other forms of sexual assaults in Guyana are unreported to authorities, most likely due to fear of stigma, a lack of confidence in authorities, retribution, or further violence.
Representative of Red Thread, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Karen de Souza said equal rights and justice in Guyana is a “thorny” issue.
“If you can afford a good lawyer then you can enjoy the rights of justice as a citizen of this country; but if you are poor you are left to suffer; therefore, we must know our rights so as to help protect ourselves,” de Souza said.
She noted that survivors of rape often suffer systemic violation of their rights since authorities fail to act or are slow to act when reports are made.