The Ministries of Labour, Human Services and Social Security and Culture, Youth and Sport, in conjunction with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police yesterday launched a workshop to sensitise youths to the issue of gender-based violence (GBV) at the Carifesta Sports Complex, Thomas Lands.
Over the next two days, the youths, chosen from groups in Regions Four, Six and Ten, will see “edutainment” being used as the tool through which they learn about gender-based violence and its implications.

Abbas Mancey, Coordinator of the Domestic Violence Policy Unit, Ministry of Human Services, said that the workshop is part of a project being implemented to reduce GBV in society, especially towards women and girls. He noted that one component of the project, “strengthening State Accountability and Common Action for Ending Gender-based Violence in the Caribbean,” entails gender sensitisation training workshops with representatives of youth groups that focus on GBV and the relationship between violence and gender.
Another focus, Mancey said, is to understand the roots of GBV and to use the performing arts to promote its reduction, thus the choice of facilitators Desiree Edghill of Artistes in Direct Support (AIDS) and Kevin Massiah of Help and Shelter.
Programme Specialist, UNIFEM, Tonni Brodber, noted that the project is being implemented in eight different territories across the region, and is just one element of a wider approach being taken towards the eradication of GBV.
Brodber noted that according to statistics, 70 percent of women have experienced some type of violence from the men in their lives, and that the Caribbean has an especially high level of violence for a region not at war.
She pointed to the 2007 World Bank Report that estimated the overall murder rate in the Caribbean to be four times that of North America, and also noted that three islands in the Caribbean rank among the top 10 countries with the highest incidence of rape in the world. One in every four women in Guyana has been abused in their relationships, while 30 percent of the women surveyed in Trinidad, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda have experienced violence. Sixty seven percent of women in cohabitive relationships in Suriname have been abused.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Trevor Thomas, believes that a comprehensive and sustained approach is what is necessary to respond to the prevalence of GBV. He noted that in the Guyana context, a perusal of the media would indicate the pervasiveness of violence in the society, and he believes that the population is in danger of becoming immune to the graphic images portrayed.
Thomas is confident that workshops of this nature are a necessary tool in the eradication of GBV, a sentiment echoed by Director of Youth, Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, Carl Brandon.
He said that his Ministry recognised the fact that based on its limited resources, all the needs of the youths could not be met without collaboration with other agencies.
After the workshop, the youth group representatives will conduct four one-day sensitisation workshops within their organizations, with the full support of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security. The workshop ends tomorrow.