GUYANA has taken yet another bold step forward in terms of protecting our women against the scourge of domestic violence. This time it is the inauguration of the Men of Mission (MoM) initiative introduced by President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, at Camp Ayanganna on Friday.

The statistics on domestic violence are alarming. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in three women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate-partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence against women, according to the WHO, is a major public health problem and a serious violation of women’s human rights.

The situation in Guyana as it pertains to sexual and domestic violence is no less worrying. According to statistics emanating from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, some 17,000 calls and 1,800 app notifications of domestic violence were made between December 2020 and June 2022. And this is despite the robust attempts of the PPP/C administration to empower women and strengthen the legislative framework to protect women by imposing tougher measures against offenders.

The Sexual Offences Act was enacted by the PPP/C administration in 2010, with the aim of reforming and consolidating the laws relating to sexual offences and other related matters. The legislation also made provision for the establishment of a Sexual Offences Court. Through this mechanism, there are much speedier trials.

Currently, the Domestic Violence Act enacted in 1996 is being examined with a view to having a complete overhaul and to broaden the scope and definition of domestic violence. Despite these policy interventions, there has not been any significant reduction in the incidence of domestic and sexual violence in the country.

The spotlight has now shifted to our men. The 1,000 Men of Mission initiative is aimed at making our men more conscious of the areas in which they are falling behind in society. The initiative could not have come at a better time as the country advances in the direction of greater inclusivity and tolerance. The One Guyana initiative is picking up momentum, but more remains to be done in terms of attitudinal and behavioural changes, especially as they relate to men in our society.

“We as men, we have dropped the ball on community, family and society. Today, it is about us picking up back that ball. Today, we want to create this movement that portrays men in a positive light, that will work in a network in a collective manner to resolve the problem,” President Ali said during his address to participants.

From all indications, the initiative was well received from men in particular and the society as a whole. Over 3,000 men out of an initial target of 1,000 signed up as mentors on the opening day; this is an indication of the interest the initiative has generated among Guyanese men.

The fact is that when it comes to the protection of our women and girls, there is zero tolerance by the PPP/C administration against offenders. There is and cannot be any “holy cow” when it comes to the exposure and bringing to justice those found guilty of any form of abuse against our women. There are, of course, some in our society who, mainly out of partisan political interests, seek to project an alternative view even though the facts demonstrate otherwise.

As pointed out by President Ali, there is much room for improvement attitudinally and behaviourally, among men our society. Males constitute the largest cohort of school dropouts and longevity rates among men are lower due, in many cases, to preventable illneses.

This project initiated by President Ali is both timely and necessary. This initiative will no doubt be a catalyst for social transformation in our society as we embark on our journey to higher levels of prosperity and gender equity. More importantly, as President Ali has consistently reminded us, despite our newly found oil-and-gas riches, we are not defined by our material riches, but by our history and by the way we relate to each other, both sociologically and economically.

In this regard, Men of Mission can play an integral role in the social transformation of our society for which President Ali and his PPP/C administration must be given full credit.