-300 officers and ranks attend awareness forum

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) recently hosted a seminar aimed at sensitising its ranks about domestic violence and at drafting a plan with its administration to deal with the issue.

According to a press release the forum titled ‘Awareness Seminar on Domestic Violence’ was held at army headquarters at Base Camp Ayanganna. Woman Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’d) Yvonne Smith said the meeting was hosted under the mandate of Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best. Smith said the GDF could not divorce itself from the issue and the army’s leadership wanted to make sure that its members were cognisant of it along with the mechanisms and actions necessary to take corrective measures.

Dr Janice Jackson, a consultant who specialises in education psychology and gender issues, led discussions on specific behaviours associated with and tending to define domestic violence. She then outlined a number of behaviours associated with and through which abusers and those abused could recognise the phenomenon. “Domestic violence is everybody’s business,” she said, noting that the seminar must be seen as the beginning of a process for the GDF to develop policies and to implement training which will lessen the impact of domestic violence in the institution.

It was noted that domestic violence was more prevalent among spouses and other members within a family structure and also among heterosexual or same sex couples whether or not they shared a family structure or simply shared intimacy. Jackson said although the prevalent manifestation of domestic violence tended to be physical violence between persons where one or both persons suffer physical harm; there were many other aspects of the issue that needed to be addressed.

The consultant pointed out that often covert forms of violence and abuse resulted in the perpetration of physical violence by the abuser. “Such forms of violence included, psychological violence where the perpetrator sought to inflict mental pain. Emotional pain, including the use of sex as a weapon against one’s partner was also cited as a form of domestic violence,” the release said. Jackson noted too that beatings as well as verbal abuse served to break the individual’s physical restraint and resolve, and simultaneously strip a person of his or her ownership of self; stripping away one’s self esteem.

Dr Jackson also cited casual issues in domestic violence such as name calling, the use of foul language, sexual abuse including rape and/or incest and financial or economic abuse. She said these forms of abuse tend to occur when persons suffer a lack of or low self-esteem; when they fail to value what they bring to their relationships and even the lack of appreciation for their own bodies. Moreover she pointed out that poor communication between spouses, partners and parents and their children was often a precursor to domestic violence. “Young persons getting into relationships, need to have more dialogue with their intended partners [and] undertake proper planning, in order to clarify all sorts of issues before taking the major step”, she said.

Dr Jackson said corporal punishment, considered by modern schools of thought as a domestic violence issue, remains a contentious issue in Guyanese society. There still seems to be consensus among participants that the old adage “spare the rod and spoil the child” was still relevant here. However, Dr Jackson pointed out that there were tried and true methodologies which disproved this notion and undertook to submit the literature to the participants for further study.

The army said several of its 300 officers and ranks actively participated in the forum. The Chief of Staff then asked them to make suggestions for solutions to deal with the issue. He opined that the most important aspect was to find the root cause of the problem and solve it. Best said in the context of the GDF soldiers would need information to help them understand how domestic violence reaches into their working environment and what measures can be taken to help them cope with how they interpret and act on the various issues. He then invited Dr Jackson to meet with the army administration to help with determining its way forward regarding the issue.

Meanwhile, Officer Commanding, Legal Services Department, attorney Captain Hollice Peters presented information regarding the legal implication for the perpetrator as well as the victim of domestic abuse. She said the law provided several measures for the protection of victims and punishment for the perpetrators. Peters then advised anyone who recognises that he or she is experiencing domestic abuse to seek advice and counselling from social workers and professionals in the field.