TEAMS from various governmental and non-governmental organizations, and specialists from the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security will today conduct the first National Conversation on Domestic Violence at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo. This afternoon, Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Bishop Juan Edghill, will be delivering a brief address to the gathering, preceding the conversation. The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security hopes the exercise will create an environment conducive to discussing several issues on which it will hear from those affected by the scourge of domestic violence.
Minister Edghill said, in an invited comment yesterday, that he hopes the conversations bring out the reality of what needs to be done differently, or in addition to what is being done; and what else should be done to effectively deal with the scourge of domestic violence. He explained that such an approach is important, because this is not the first exercise aimed at hearing from the people.
Edghill said that in all the different approaches to tackle domestic violence, there must have been a few issues and areas that were not addressed, which caused the protraction of the problem, and at an increasingly alarming rate in some instances.
He warned that Guyana, as a country, cannot continue to use traditional measures in attempting to tackle the problem of domestic violence. He added that the increasing cases are doing nothing good for the country, and needs to be addressed adequately.
He said the National Conversation should be seen as both an educational and awareness exercise wherein the facilitators, the affected and the communities could be on the same playing field in addressing domestic violence. Such an approach, he said, would be an ideal policy and decision-making guide on the way forward regarding the issue of violence against women, children and even men.
While the community is expected to play a very big and meaningful role in the conversations, because of the negative effects on communities as a result of the scourge, expectation is that attendance at the conversations will be tremendous, the minister added.
He mentioned the trauma experienced by women in general, and children and the relatives of a deceased in a community as a result of domestic violence, and disclosed that the general community is impacted.
Minister Edghill told the Guyana Chronicle that issues to be covered today will be topical, and focus will be placed on managing conflict at the family level, besides pressures the society brings to bear on the issue; parties’ need to respect and appreciate each other; tolerance for persons of various backgrounds; and the importance of the family.
Minister Edghill is calling on persons to participate in the conversation, especially men, since sections of society see men as the root of the problem. The National Conversation on Domestic violence was launched on June 28 at the international Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.