THE administration of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security said it is deeply saddened by the recent loss of lives and injuries as a result of domestic violence.

“We continue to implore perpetrators to seek help through the government system or non-governmental organisations. These incidents are preventable, but require much effort from perpetrators, victims, communities, civil society, Government and other partners. Domestic violence is everybody’s business,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry, independently and in collaboration with its partners, has been addressing the scourge of domestic violence in Guyana through training, advocacy, sensitisation and awareness programmes.
In keeping with its mandate, the ministry through many of its sections/departments has launched a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted approach to deal with this problem in a holistic manner.
Officers of the Probation and Social Services Department work in communities across the country sensitising the public about the services available to victims, providing counselling services to victims and perpetrators and making community members aware of their social responsibility to report cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) that occur in their respective communities.
In the last two years, the Men’s Affairs Bureau has been working with young boys and men in schools, sports clubs and football teams to address issues such as anger management, domestic violence prevention and interactions with the opposite sex via the ‘No More Black and Blue’ and the ‘Red Card Domestic Violence’ campaigns. The ministry has worked in more than 30 schools and communities reaching more than 20,000 boys and men.
The Women’s Affairs Bureau (WAB), through its regional arm, the Regional Women’s Affairs Committees, continues advocacy against gender-based and domestic violence through their domestic violence prevention programmes. In addition, the WAB continues to host sensitisation sessions through faith-based organisations on many issues such as conflict and anger management, and exiting situations involving domestic violence.
In addition, the ministry continues to provide financial support to Help and Shelter with an annual subvention of $10 million, for the daily operation of the home for survivors of domestic violence.
Through the Guyana Legal Aid Clinics, the ministry provides legal advice and services to the survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence in four coastal regions. The Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute has also conducted training for volunteers in Regions 3, 4 and 5 to work in their communities to provide immediate support to victims, perpetrators and survivors of GBV.
So far, 93 volunteers have been trained and during the last quarter of this year, training will be conducted for persons living in communities along the East Bank of Demerara and in Region 2. The programme will be expanded to include other regions to assist in the reduction of Gender Based Violence.
The Board of Industrial Training has also been assisting in the empowerment of people by providing training, inclusive of a travelling stipend, to single parents, equipping them with  skills to earn and achieve financial independence.
These programmes are designed in recognition of existing empirical evidence that reveal financial dependence as a critical factor in the decisions made by persons who remain in abusive relationships. This premise, as well as the recognition of the sting of poverty, also guides the operation of the Difficult Circumstances Unit.
However, the ministry said all of the work and services mentioned above will not reap results without the assistance and cooperation of members of all communities and victims of domestic violence.
“As we have been advocating in every community, school and sports club in which we have been working, domestic violence is everyone’s business; we are our brothers and sisters’ keepers,” the ministry stressed.
Thus, the incidents must be reported, wherever and whenever they occur, to the nearest police station or to the ministry on telephone numbers 225-4362, 227-3497.