– five-year assessment shows

WHILE suicide in Guyana have generally captured the attention of policy-makers and technocrats alike, the higher statistics of the phenomenon among men has seized the attention of Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud.

During an observance of International Men’s Day 2021, Dr Persaud told a gathering at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) that suicide among men over the last five years have been significantly high when compared to those among women.

International Men’s Day 2021 was observed globally under the theme, “Better relations between men and women,” however, “Engagement” was the theme of yesterday’s national event hosted by the Gender Affairs Bureau of the Human Services and Social Security Ministry.

“605 men took their lives from 2016 to 2021 and that’s in comparison to 171 women during that time,” the human services minister said to a gathering of men, primarily from the disciplined forces in the ACCC’s main auditorium.

These statistics are important for crafting policies and programmes tailored specifically to the root causes of suicide.
“There are many important statistics we need to pay attention to [in order] to determine what are the policies and programme that we need to channel in your direction and how we can help you to navigate through some of the challenges you face,” the Human Services Minister stated.

There was, however, another set of statistics which caused Minister Persaud to raise alarm. “Based on a prison study of 900 inmates,” she said, “one in four men saw their fathers beat their mothers.”

Urging the men gathered to reflect on their childhood years, Dr Persaud said many men, approximately six out of 10, have been exposed to violence from an early age. “All of these things shape men today [and]… will shape the men of tomorrow.”

Calling for these social ills to be eradicated, the Human Services Minister said, “it is imperative that we not only look at the statistics but also look at how we can address the statistics so we can eradicate some of the common social ills [and] so that we can definitely ensure that the generations to come have positive messages.”

Dubbed a “men’s centric forum,” Friday’s observance by the Gender Affairs Bureau of the ministry celebrated the work of men and brought awareness to the challenges they face.

Also in attendance were several high-level officials from government and the diplomatic corps including Prime Minister Mark Phillips; Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn; Minister in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Anand Persaud; and Ambassadors Sarah-Ann Lynch of the United States, and Fernando Ponz Canto of the European Union.