FIRST Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger on Thursday engaged staff of the state-owned Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI) on the vexing issue of domestic violence at a special staff meeting held at the Herdmanston Lodge.

Mrs. Granger called for a concerted effort to tackle the scourge, as she noted that domestic violence knows no face, race or age, the Ministry of the Presidency said in a release. Speaking to an audience of predominantly male participants, Mrs. Granger said that domestic violence remains a challenge in Guyana as she provided statistics and shared experiences in an effort to sensitise the audience on the severity of the issue in Guyana.
“Domestic violence in Guyana cuts across all ages, all races, all regions and all religions. While both males and females are victims, the majority of victims tend to be female. In 2011, of the 3,892 reported cases of domestic violence, 3,243 were female. In 2012, there were 2,267 female victims as opposed to 467 males. Of a total of 3,243 in 2013, 2,737 were female. In 2014, there were 2,467 female victims out of a total of 3,067 while there were 2,089 female victims out of a total of 2,588 in 2015. Out of a total of 2,109 in 2016, 1,756 were women and in 2017, there were 1,764 female victims out of a total of 2,118. In essence, over 80 percent of the victims are females,” the First Lady said.

She noted that women deserve to be treated with respect and males, whether a spouse, brother, father or other relative or non-relative must become more conscious of how they approach the matter of domestic violence. The First Lady said that in many instances, many Guyanese maintain a traditional “don’t get involved” approach and this must be changed.

Meanwhile, in an invited comment, PPDI’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Aaron Fraser, explained that the organisation recognises the issue as one of critical importance and particularly in the past few months and it felt that action had to be taken. “We’ve recognised that it’s a prevalent ill in society so we thought that we should be proactive and deal with the issue head on instead of being reactive and waiting until one of our employees suffers from domestic abuse or perpetuates domestic abuse so that was the objective of having the First Lady speak on this topic today,” he shared.
Mrs. Granger also engaged the audience in a question and answer segment where staff members were afforded the opportunity to ask her questions and share comments related to the topic of discussion. Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI) is a state-owned enterprise contracted to operate and maintain four power plants on behalf of the Guyana Power & Light Inc. (GPL).