IN most instances of domestic abuse or violence of any kind, it has been discovered that the abuser has emerged from an abusive environment during his/her formative years. This reality should be factored into sentencing guidelines when perpetrators are taken before the courts for any act of violence. Sometimes rehabilitation, not punishment, should be recommended and enforced.

Domestic violence has been described as “… behaviour which causes one partner in a relationship to be afraid of the other.  Domestic violence can take the form of physical, psychological or emotional abuse and forced social isolation away from friends and family members.” However, domestic violence has many victims besides spousal partners.
The laws of Guyana prescribe one’s rights regarding this issue, which are laid out in the Domestic Violence Act (1996) as “recognised under the law and law enforcement agencies, such as the courts,” and stipulates that the Guyana Police Force must help to enforce the rights of, and offer protection to, any man, woman, or child who may be experiencing domestic violence.

An initiative by the former PPP/C administration to deal with the scourge of domestic violence suggested actions one should take to protect oneself (and possibly others) from domestic violence, and to provide a descriptive analysis of a Protection Order.

One of the suggestions made is to make a report to the nearest police station, and therein lies a conundrum.
Those who are supposed “To Protect and Serve” most often have provided the catalyst for a tragedy to occur by their attitude, attention – or lack thereof, and plain don’t-care-a-damn, laissez-faire behaviour when a complainant drums up the requisite courage (most often with great difficulty) and lodges a complaint.
Many victims of continuous abuse are killed because of the complacency of the members of the Police Force who refuse to investigate complaints and lay charges, or take the actions necessary to protect the victim from further abuse.

Guyanese have stopped being our brother’s (and sister’s) keepers because, in many communities, neighbours witnessing a continuum of, and escalating instances of abuse refuse to become involved.  They prefer to enjoy the enfolding tragedy, even adding to it with malicious rumour-mongering and strife-making, because the titillation of feuds and wars within families find a corresponding resonance in the dark nuances resident in every soul, and the average person refuses to rise above their more decadent equivalencies to achieve a higher plane of thoughts and actions, enough to maybe intercede – and probably save, a family from ultimate destruction.

And one wonders what part the church bodies and religious leaders play in melding communities into units cohesive enough to fashion strategies for interventions within families and the general society in efforts to divert energies into more productive and peaceful approaches to conflict resolution – even to the point of empowerment.
The acceleration in violence-prone conflicts within families and societies is spiraling out of control, to the extent where many lives have been lost, with many more dislocated, and there seems to be no end in sight.

Unless there is a holistic, proactive approach, where all stakeholders in the nation are made aware that this cause and this fight is a national one because, more often than not, it is our children – the future generations of our nation, who are the statistics of domestic violence, every effort made –valiant and committed as they may be, will prove woefully inadequate, because domestic violence is a national tradition entrenched in the Guyanese psyche.

Persons within communities most often do not think it is their business to report instances of abuse, and many women and children have suffered violations, and have even been murdered, when a timely intervention could have saved someone’s life.

Evil can only perpetuate if good people think it is not their business; so unless we return to the era when each of us was our sister’s or brother’s keepers, there will be many more victims who would suffer even more tragic outcomes to their wasted lives.