Statement by Help & Shelter and Red Thread on International Day against Violence against Women, November 2004

25 November 2004

Statement by Help & Shelter and Red Thread on International Day against Violence against Women, and in commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women

International Day against Violence against Women again finds us mourning the fact that there has been no abatement in the level of violence against women and girls in Guyana during the past year. The murder of 13 year old Julie Sooklall comes at the end of a period in which too many women and girls have been killed by men as a result of sexual and intimate violence. The increase in the number of murders of women and girls is undoubtedly more than matched by an increase in the number of sexual and violent assaults on women and girls that are not counted as they are not reported.

Help & Shelter and Red Thread are concerned at the continuing weaknesses in the implementation of the law, which are such that even Government officials have expressed doubts about the efficacy of its deterrent effect. The Domestic Violence Act is for example, hardly utilised outside of Georgetown as a result of the inadequacies of the court system to accommodate those persons, especially women, who seek protection under the Act.

The delay in giving sexual offences legislation the overhaul it so desperately needs also indicates the low priority our society places on eliminating violence against women and girls.

Red Thread and Help & Shelter again call for the following action to be taken with the greatest urgency:

i)The expediting of the work of the Presidential Task Force on Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in looking at all the sectors, including education, legislative, judicial and health, that require interventions to stop violence against women and children.

ii)The enactment of new sexual offences legislation to provide adequate substantive and procedural protection to all victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.

iii)The development of a Special Victims Units within the Guyana Police Force which will have specially trained officers to deal with domestic and sexual violence.

iv)The raising of the age of consent to at least 16.

v)The development of the capacity of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security to cope with the growing demands on its services to respond to domestic violence and child abuse, especially outside of Georgetown

Help & Shelter & Red Thread commend all that is being done by different groups around Guyana to deal with domestic and other forms of violence against women and girls. We also recognise the men who are part of the movement to change the behavior and attitudes of men who are violent towards the women and girls they are supposed to love. And we celebrate the lives of those women and girls who survive the violence.