–in face of the 208 prank calls placed to ‘914’ hotline since its launch last December
JUST four months into its establishment on December 10, 2020, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, has already been compelled to appeal to the public to take the ‘914’ domestic violence hotline seriously.
She did so in light of the 208 prank calls made to the hotline to date, as confirmed by a database of all the calls it has received since it was launched.
Noting that the making of prank calls is something one would associate with a child and not a full-grown adult, she asked that persons desist from doing so, as abuse and violence should not be taken lightly and treated as a joke.
She also used the opportunity to urge survivors of domestic abuse not to be deterred from calling in to the hotline, because of what has been revealed.
According to the database, of the 197 reports placed to the hotline between December 10, 2020 and March 15, 2021, 158 dealt with domestic violence, while 39 had to do with child abuse. The cases at reference, the minister said, have since been referred to the various district probation offices, and the Child Protection Agency for further intervention. “If we look at how these reports come in, we allow the officers to intervene in various ways,” Minister Persaud said. “Officers would be required to contact the police directly, if there are issues that require immediate intervention, to take the person or child to safety. That has been occurring, and, of course, those who are in situations that do not warrant immediate attention, the officers will intervene; whether it’s counselling, or linkage to our support services,” she explained during the course of a media briefing on Friday.
Giving a breakdown by region, she noted that the one which recorded the highest number of reports so far at 57.4 per cent is Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), with Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) coming second with 36 cases, which is the equivalent of 18.3 per cent of the calls.
Eighteen reports came from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); 14 from Region Two (Pomeroon–Supenaam); five each from both Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo); and three each from Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
It also transpired that while most cases involving child protection issues were reported by adults outside of the situation, one caller was a male child.
And of the 37 adults who made reports, two were males, 22 females, and 12 did not disclose their identity.
“That’s a good thing,” Minister Persaud said, “because it means people are being vigilant, and they’re taking the issue of child abuse very seriously. And we would like to encourage that, and support this movement where people are becoming more aware of all the cases of abuse and violence as they exist in the country.”
Although there were no reports from Regions One (Barima-Waini) or Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), the minister said that this does not necessarily mean that there’s no abuse in those areas, and that as such she and other stakeholders in Social Protection will be conducting a series of social outreaches in various regions, beginning today. The ‘914’ hotline was launched as a result of the significant decline in the reporting of domestic violence and child abuse due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has since moved to tweak the operations of the ‘914’ emergency hotline to ensure that it is able to accommodate calls from persons who do not speak English, beginning with the employment of operators who are conversant in Spanish as well as Portuguese.
