THE Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) is worried about the inordinate length of time that a nine-year-old child has been in the custody of the Counter-Trafficking Department within the Ministry of Social Protection.The group says what is of particular concern is that the child at reference has already had a bad experience, having allegedly been trafficked by her mother, and now that she is being virtually held hostage by the Counter-Trafficking Department, will only exacerbate the situation.

According to the group, the child was promised by department head, Tanisha Williams-Corbin when she was brought to Georgetown back in September, that she would be reunited with her siblings and foster mother. But to date, this has not happened.

It alleges that apart from missing school, the child was further embarrassed recently by a police report which stated that the doctors found that she was never sexually active as claimed.

Since this development, she apparently wants nothing to do with the department, as, according to the GWMO:
“The alleged victim was adamant that she did not want to be at the Protective Care Facility, and refused to move from the door… as her rights as a victim were not respected.”

The group said when its president, Urica Primus, contacted Corbin on October 7, she was told that the Ministry of Social Protection along with the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs were in search of someone who could speak Carib, so they could communicate with the child. But according to the GWMO, this was unnecessary, as the child could speak English very well.
IN VIOLATION
Short of outrightly accusing the Ministry of Social Protection of violating the child’s rights, the group says in its statement:
“The United Nations Human Rights and Human Trafficking Fact Sheet No. 36 clearly outlines the rights-based approach to providing services and support for victims of Human Trafficking.
“The GWMO hereby reminds the Ministry of Social Protection that the United Nations Human Rights and Human Trafficking Documents highlight ‘no detention of trafficked persons’.”
It goes on to say that the UN specifically states that the routine detention of victims is always illegal, and that in a situation where the alleged trafficker is dead, and there are no threats to the life of the school-aged victim, she should not be kept away from her family for extended periods.
Says the group, “From September 28, 2016, the victim’s life has been reduced to misery and deception. Not only was she separated from her foster mother, but on September 29, 2016, no one from the Ministry of Social Protection returned to take her to complete an interview, as such she was not reunited with her foster mother.”
The Guyana Chronicle has since learnt that on October 2, the child’s foster mother returned to the Barima/Waini Region One district without her.
The GWMO says that while it is not against victims being placed in protective care, they must have the right of choice; that holding them against their will is dangerous and further traumatises them.
“The GWMO is well aware that this victim is not the only one who has been forced into care, with no contact with their family. Some have even attempted suicide in frustration of being denied continuous requests to return to their communities, both from local victims and international victims,” the group said.
CAME TO LIGHT
The plight of the child came to light on September 23, when it was disclosed that she was allegedly sold by her mother to a gold miner for food and a generator.
It also transpired that days after she was first raped by the adult male, the child’s mom forced her to live with him; and for more than two years, she was forced to fulfil all of his sexual and physical desires, while not being allowed to associate with her siblings or anyone else.
“She suffered in silence for two years, as her mother collected food supplies, and on one occasion, a generator, in exchange for her daughter’s childhood,” the GWMO said.
The man at the centre of the controversy has since been killed, and the child’s 15-year-old brother was charged and remanded to prison for his murder in September. The boy is accused of murdering the businessman after learning that he had been continually raping his nine-year-old sister for over two years. The man was beaten to death and hung by the neck with a rope.
It was also reported that the man had once threatened to kill the teenager, after he was found to be too protective of his sister.