THE issue of domestic abuse and violence is becoming increasingly problematic in many societies across the world. Consequently, there is need to address it with a greater sense of urgency as it has already caused so much suffering and agony.
The first-ever World Health Organization (WHO) study on domestic violence reveals that intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence in women’s lives – much more so than assault or rape by strangers or acquaintances.
The study reports on the enormous toll physical and sexual violence by husbands and partners has on the health and well-being of women around the world and the extent to which partner violence is still largely hidden.
“This study shows that women are more at risk from violence at home than in the street and this has serious repercussions for women’s health,” said Dr Lee Jong-wook, Director-General of WHO at the study release in Geneva, Switzerland.
The study also shows how important it is to shine a spotlight on domestic violence globally and treat it as a major public health issue.
It is based on interviews with more than 24,000 women from rural and urban areas in 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Namibia, Peru, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The ‘Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women’ study makes recommendations and calls for action by policy makers and the public health sector to address the human and health costs, including by integrating violence prevention programming into a range of social programmes.
The study finds that one quarter to one half of all women who had been physically assaulted by their partners said they had suffered physical injuries as a direct result. The abused women were also twice as likely as non-abused women to have poor health and physical and mental problems, even if the violence occurred years before.
This includes suicidal thoughts and attempts, mental distress, and physical symptoms like pain, dizziness and vaginal discharge. The study was carried out in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and national research institutions and women’s organizations in the participating countries.
“The degree to which the health consequences of partner violence in the WHO study are consistent across sites, both within and between countries, is striking,” noted Dr Charlotte Watts, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a member of the core research team for the study.
Partner violence appears to have a similar impact on women’s health and well-being regardless of where she lives, the prevalence of violence in her setting, or her cultural or economic background.
In our country, Guyana, domestic abuse and violence seems to be on the upsurge in recent years resulting in the loss of many lives and tremendous suffering on mothers and their children.
Against this backdrop it was most assuring to hear from President Donald Ramotar that he will adopt “a no nonsense approach” to the issue, after being in office for just over three weeks.
It tells the nation that the President has his fingers on the right buttons and he is fully aware of the critical and serious social problems affecting our country.
At the recent Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security conference held at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) on domestic abuse and violence, the President assured that the government will ensure the effective functioning of the systems that are put in place to provide a safe refuge for women in Guyana.
“It is a criminal and abhorrent act when any woman is abused, emotionally, mentally or physically, and no woman should be a victim of sexual or domestic violence,” President Ramotar said.
The President believes that the police, with whom the responsibility lies to investigate cases of domestic abuse, should know that such issues should be treated with sensitivity; and in this regard called for training for this to be accomplished.
“Too often people take the position that this is a family matter… we see, in many cases, it ends in murder and loss of life. The government, through this ministry, has sought to break the silence on these atrocities and is committed to the sustained rejection of abuse in any form,” President Ramotar said.
The President has hit the nail perfectly on the head because too often the police do not respond adequately to reports of domestic violence. A recent example is the Neesa Gopaul tragedy which perhaps could have been prevented had the police been doing their homework.
But President Ramotar is right, training of the police in dealing with such issues is vital because such issues are not the run of the mill ones. They are issues of great complexity and if personnel are not adequately trained to handle them more harm than good may be done.