–with launch of research report
THE Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), on Friday, launched its research report on Hate Crime Reform in Guyana, to inform and start a debate on introducing local Hate Crime Legislation in Guyana.

The GEF, on Friday, launched the research report which comprises three components and is said to be the first of its kind to be done in Guyana. This report comes on the heels of the world observing International Day for the Elimination of Racism.

Managing Director of the GEF, Joel Simpson, during the launch at the Herdmanston Lodge, said that the group wanted to ensure that there is adequate research on the subject that was broad and intersectional, which would also look at hate crimes against four major grounds including race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender.

The research project, he said, started in late 2020 and, following its conclusion, the report on the findings of the research was compiled.

The GEF, which is a network of civil society groups that work together to achieve equal rights and justice for all Guyanese, is aware of the prevalence of hate crime in Guyana through its work with groups that support women, Indigenous people, and lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT+) people and other groups.

Further, it can be said that incidents of hate crimes are not understood and are rarely documented or discussed in public discourse in Guyana.

To this end, Simpson told members of the media that the report comprised three chapters, the first of which focuses on the situational analysis of hate crime in Guyana and was authored by Pere DeRoy, a Guyanese researcher at the University of Kansas.

The second chapter which focuses on International Legal Analysis was authored by Professor James Chalmers at the University of Glasgow, and considered the various models of hate crime legislation throughout the world to help inform possible proposals for law reform in Guyana.

The report’s third chapter, ‘Local Legal Analysis’ was authored by Sigismund Consultants Inc. and focused on providing a survey of the local legal landscape as it relates to hate crimes to further spark debate about the potential introduction of Hate Crime Legislation in Guyana.

As part of this study, the Managing Director said that over 20 national stakeholders were interviewed. Consequently, he said that a number of these institutions had the raw information and data on hate crime statistics that they were able to share to be added to the research.

Meanwhile, following the release of this report, the GEF intends to have some level of in-person training with the relevant stakeholders where they can study the recommendations made by the authors of the various chapters and make a way forward. This is expected to be done during the first half of this year.

Further, for the latter part of the year, the GEF intends to do more dissemination and sensitisation amongst national stakeholders and the constitutional commissions.

Added to this, he said that the GEF also wants to do more work in relation to consultations with players in the legal fraternity.

“I think the goal in another two years or so is to have a draft bill on hate crimes as the GEF that we want to take to the government,” Simpson said.

This is what the Forum will be advocating for and moving towards as more consultative and evidence-based work is done.