IN keeping with the government’s mission to reduce crime, especially those that are gender-based, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund on Saturday saw its first batch of graduates from the CopSquad2000 initiative.

The ceremony, which was held at the Police Officers Training Centre, Camp Street, Georgetown, saw 21 ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) graduating from the two-week programme. The initiative, which will see the training of 2,000 officers from the force, aims to increase the ranks’ knowledge of laws pertaining to gender-based violence, to equip them with the necessary training to deal with gender-based crimes in a manner that would protect the victims.

It further seeks to ensure that once a domestic violence matter is brought to a police station, it will be handled in a manner that accords with international best practices. Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr., Vindhya Persaud, believes the training will have a “meaningful, purposeful, tangible impact on a social ill that has created havoc both locally and globally.

At the graduation ceremony, she noted that the intent is to equip ranks of the GPF with the necessary knowledge to actively reduce the number of recorded gender-based crimes within the country. This, she noted, is in keeping with the ill effects that domestic violence brings with it, including instability in families, and disruption of lives.

She noted that while gender-based crime is not something widely discussed, the ministry aims to have the officers equipped to deal with the issue that is spoken in hushed tones. Minister Persaud encouraged the newly trained ranks to let their drive motivate them to implement all that they have learnt within the past two weeks.

“It still is not something that many people are not comfortable facing, addressing or taking action against; maybe because it hits too close to home and if you compare our global statistics with our country statistics, where one in two women face gender-based violence within their lifetime compared to one in three globally, we see we have a lot of work to do.

“If we could harness the energies that you would have expended in your training to make the kind of difference in all of the communities where you would be placed, I think our country can see a reduction of numbers,” the minister expressed.

Minister Persaud explained that while the programme will focus largely on women facing gender-based violence, the ministry is encouraging all men who are victims in those situations to feel comfortable and know that they will be “heard” when making their reports.

She reminded that in many cases males feel that their cries of gender-based violence would go unheard, but she indicated that the ministry intends to ensure that those males feel safe.
Minister Persaud encouraged the graduates to incorporate their new training in their daily lives.

“Be the ones who can look across the aisle or the class or when you’re on duty, if you know an officer who’s not doing what he should do or not performing in the manner that is expected of him, you’d be able to say you’re not doing the right thing, and if necessary, report that officer.”

She said the ministry intends to continue with similar training sessions.

“This will not be a one-off training, this will be accompanied by many other interventions through our partners, through the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, so that you will continue to have more information, more education more awareness to guide you in your duty,” said Minister Persaud.

Commissioner of Police (ag), Nigel Hoppie disclosed that as of September 24, 2021, six women were killed by “suspects” who shared an intimate relationship with them. This he noted shows a significant reduction from the 11 women that were killed during the same period in 2020.

According to the top cop, during the period January to August 2021, preliminary information indicated that 1,135 reports of domestic violence with 994 of those reports being female victims, against the 989 reports of domestic violence with 811 being female victims for the same period last year.

He highlighted that while the prosecution of offenders is the main role of the GPF, the force is involved in all aspects of domestic violence. He reminded the graduates that domestic violence training is a part of the curriculum at the police training college, and is included and integrated into the “recruit programme” as well as most of the training programme conducted at the college.

Notwithstanding this, the chief of police stated that the programme will certainly be of benefit to ranks as it will serve to boost their knowledge of policies, procedures, and laws to combat gender-based violence.