– Human Services Ministry launches ‘Enough with the Violence’ campaign

By Naomi Parris
A TOTAL of 17 women have been killed thus far in the year in cases of domestic violence, leaving approximately 43 children motherless, Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, has disclosed.
The minister made the disclosure on Wednesday in a statement as she launched the ‘Enough with the Violence’ campaign to coincide with the United Nations (UN) initiative sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

“Domestic violence remains a taboo, shuttered behind closed doors and only emerging as bloody faces, bruised limbs, broken spirits and dead bodies. Fear of societal judgement, insecurities about children and finances, family pressure and manipulation keep this a hushed conversation or results in an overwhelming silence,” she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said has kept many women in proximity to their abusers and reporting has become challenging.
Urging persons to join the movement, Minister Persaud noted that the fight to end violence against women and girls is one of the longest and hardest challenges faced, not only by Guyana, but the entire world.

As such, she said all should join in the campaign to ensure women are protected.
“Our stance together will create an umbrella of protection for legions of women. We must be the hope for children so that they will not have to live without the love of their mothers and we must be the conscience of a country that will not tolerate an iota of violence against women,” she said, adding: “Our campaign needs every one of you to implement the zero-tolerance policy for violence against women.”

Minister further stated that acts of violence inflicted on women and girls are heinous crimes which are a pervasive breach of human rights and should be condemned by all.
“While we struggle to find the solution, women continue to cower in fear, tell doctors that they fell down the stairs to explain injuries from merciless beatings and lawyers and case workers should continue to plead with them to stay away from their perpetrators.”

The minister added: “This is 2020, we can do better. All of us … that’s right…you and I must work in every home, school, office, community, in every part of our country to expose violence against women where it exists, support the women, work with the perpetrators, create safe spaces, educate persons and share solutions.”

The Human Services and Social Security Ministry will launch its 914 emergency hotline in December to link survivors to agencies, advocacy programmes, referral pathways, microenterprise industries, public-private skills employment database matching and offer immediate help to extricate them from violent situations.
The 24-hour hotline operators will offer support, referral to victims and survivors, family, friends and professionals via an integration of the services available at both the Domestic Violence Unit and the Childcare and Protection Agency.

Minister Persaud added that approximately nine social workers were trained through the Survivors Advocacy Programme, to offer emotional support and crisis counselling to victims of domestic and sexual violence and act on the victim’s behalf when necessary.

Additionally, she stated that, in 2021, the ministry will create a centralised database system to facilitate information sharing and capture reports in a systematic manner to guide intervention and programme and policy development.