Woman abuse directly linked to child abuse
Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence
Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence

A PROMINENT member of the corporate community in Linden and astute Muslim Dennis Mohammed has urged Linden men to stop abusing women. He is of the view that this could help in eradicating child abuse in the mining town.Mohammed was at the time addressing the audience at the recently held rally against child sexual abuse and exclaimed that for us to get to the root of the problem of child abuse we must first strive to eradicate woman abuse. Mohammed firmly believes that the abuse of the child is directly linked to the abuse of the woman and since Linden was suffering from child abuse, it basically meant that domestic violence abuse figures were also high.
“If we don’t stop the abuse of our beautiful women, we can never fix the abuse of the child….the two greatest people in a man’s life is a mother who gives life and a wife who gives continuity of life.” Mohammed urged men to have more respect for their wives and in extension all women because such respect is paramount for a child to return that love to the man.
“If I, as a man, fulfills all the duties towards my child and my child came home one night and sees me hitting on his mother, will that child love me still? So you can do all you can for your child, if you don’t show love to the mother, that child wouldn’t love you back,” Mohammed concluded.
This type of abuse he said does not only encapsulate physical abuse but verbal as well which spiral into emotional and mental abuse. He said everyone should be involved in the eradicating process as it takes an entire village to raise a child.
According to a study linking domestic violence to child abuse by the South Michagan University, there is a direct link between woman abuse and child abuse. According to the study, children may be victimized and threatened as a way of punishing and controlling the adult victim of domestic violence or they may be injured unintentionally when acts of violence occur in their presence.
The study went on to say that even when children are not directly attacked, they can experience serious emotional damage as a result of living in a violent household. “Children living in this environment come to believe that this behavior is acceptable,” the study pointed out, revealing that the estimated overlap between domestic violence and child physical or sexual abuse ranges from 30 to 50 percent. “Neither domestic violence nor child abuse is an isolated event, both occur with some regularity, often increasing and becoming more serious.”
According to Director of Child Services Ann Greene, the statistics show that Linden from January to July recorded 52 cases of child sexual abuse while statistics coming out of E’ Division (Region 10) Head Quarters reveal that there were 44 cases of domestic violence for the year 2016 in Linden. With the belief that these figures are way too high, Minister Volda Lawrence pledged to stamp out sexual violence against children in Linden. She described the situation as urgent with the Child Protection Department having serious business to take care of.
The Minister did admit that the Regional Office and the Ministry have shortcomings that she was trying to remedy. She said that there are far too few officers to deal with the many cases coming out of Region 10 but the Ministry was in the process of strengthening the Regional Office and to collaborate with NGO’s and other stake holders. Workshops will be done with the NGO’s and other bodies to train individuals to serve the abused professionally.
Earlier in the month she also revealed that plans were in store for the establishment of a home to rescue abused women and children.
Staff of the Child Services branch in Linden told the Guyana Chronicle that the move to have a children’s and women’s home will be much appreciated as there is currently no home in Linden to accommodate these individuals. In the eventuality of a child having to be placed into the custody of Child Services, the staff would place that child in the care of a responsible relative or in temporary foster care. The next alternative is to transfer that child to a children’s home in Georgetown. The same procedure occurs when a victim of domestic violence needs to be taken into custody.

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