LAMENTING the prevalence of violence against women and the high mortality rate in Guyana, Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton, has said the administration will leave no stone unturned in its quest to address these issues.

Having assumed power some four months ago, the current administration has recognised violence against women as a human rights violation, and has noted the need for a serious action plan to counter it.

Addressing the Pan American Health Organisation’s (PAHO’s) 54th Directive Council in Washington earlier this week, Dr Norton told regional health ministers and experts that crimes such as trafficking-in-persons, murders, rapes and domestic violence are still rampant in Guyana.
“It is evident that current enforcement measures are inadequate to protect women,” he said, although he noted that the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO), along with a number of other organisations, has been proactive in fighting violence against women.

Through the GWMO, which until recently was led by current Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, several women and teenage girls have been rescued from sexual enslavement in Guyana’s hinterland, where the population is principally indigenous, and gold mining and logging are the main sources of employment.

“Our government has noted that, despite the passage of legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act and the Sexual Offences Act in our country in the past, violence against women continues to be a national epidemic. This is so largely because of weak enforcement and the absence of a coherent national plan,” Minister Norton told the Directing Council.

Dr Norton also pointed out that maternal mortality is a like worry issue. In the 2014 document on Trends in Maternal Mortality estimates 1990-2013, the rate in Guyana increased significantly during the period, and Guyana continues to have an unacceptably high rate, being one of very few countries with exceedingly high maternal mortality rates in the Americas.

Although no specific studies have been done here, the Public Health Minister said, Guyana is aware of findings from Canada and by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggest that partner violence can be an important contributor to maternal mortality.

Extremely high
“Mortality rates among our indigenous populations are extremely high, and as a person of indigenous heritage, this is extremely painful to me as an individual. This does not mean that I am not pained by the high rates among fellow Guyanese of other ethnicities, but the disparity among the indigenous peoples would indicate some amount of inequity, and (it) flies in the face of our goals to achieve universal access to health services,” Dr Norton told the Council.

He also said that the current government will work assiduously, and will leave no stone unturned, to arrest and reverse both the high maternal mortality and violence against women.

“We see the need for a national action plan on violence and the introduction of educational and enforcement initiatives to eliminate this scourge, and (we) recognise PAHO’s proposed strategy and plan of action on strengthening the health system to address violence against women as the framework which can be used to develop our own plan.

“Of course, we recognise that we cannot do it alone, and therefore wish to appeal to PAHO and our brothers and sisters of this region to assist us in our own efforts to address violence against women, as well as in each and every one of our member states,” Dr Norton said in his informative presentation.

“Around the world, and in our hemisphere, violence against women is epidemic in its scope and impact,” said Cuauhtemoc Ruiz, acting Director of PAHO’s Family, Gender and Life Course Department. “It is a public health problem, and it needs a strong response by health systems. We need to do more to prepare health providers to care for women affected by violence, and we need to step up research and programming to learn how best to prevent violence against women”.

“Worldwide, one in every three women will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, usually by an intimate partner,” declared US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, during the opening session of PAHO’s 54th Directing Council.