Dear Editor,
The Women and Gender Equality Commission presented on August 6, 2012 a public forum on ‘Access to Justice for Women‘ at Bush Lot Secondary School West Coast Berbice. It was a fitting time to engage members of the various communities across Region Five on the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of obtaining justice for abuses experienced by women and children, since it was recently reported in Stabroek News, Demerara Waves and Kaieteur News on August 5, August 6 and August 7, respectively, of a fourteen-year-old girl who was raped and murdered at Woodley Park West Coast Berbice. It was a sizeable gathering with persons representing various groups namely, the Women‘s Progressive Organisation (WPO) and Women For Change (WFC), among others.
The intention of the forum was to seek representations from the various institutions that are responsible for the protection and promotion of women’s rights as human rights. The commission therefore formally invited representatives from the Legal Aid Centre, Guyana Police Force, and the Probation and Family Welfare Department of Region Five. It was not surprising at all that none of the aforementioned sent any representative to the forum, since it is a regular occurrence, especially where the Region Five Probation and Welfare Department and the Guyana Police Force at Fort Wellington are concerned.
The Rights of the Child Committee and Education Committee of Region Five are always absent.
The fact is that while the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and other concerned organizations spend a great deal of money on programmes which are intended to educate and help persons become more conscious of ways by which they can acquire access to justice, the institutions that are in place to help in the process are dysfunctional, hence there is a need for their immediate strengthening. These institutions need to understand their roles and responsibilities and the seriousness of their inputs in solving the problem.
Justice institutions enable people to protect their rights against infringement by other people or bodies in society, and allow parties to bring actions against government to limit executive power and ensure government is accountable. If people are unable to access these institutions to protect their rights, respect for the rule of law is diminished.
Our judicial system is not effective to the extent that everyone can understand and afford it. Therefore to improve the quality of dispute resolution, justice must be maintained in individuals’ daily activities, and dispute resolution mechanisms must be situated within a community and economic context.
I stress again the importance of institutions like the Legal Aid Centre, Guyana Police Force and the Probation and Family Welfare Department. I call on the subject ministry to conduct a thorough analysis of the functioning and management of the institutions responsible for the protection and security of our women and children. I also call on the subject ministry to ensure that officers in charge of these institutions perform their duties and responsibilities as recommended in their job descriptions.
The absence of these institutions mentioned above from the forum, during which they had to make known their duties and responsibilities caused a postponement of the activity which is now scheduled for August 22, 2012. I do hope on the fixed date we will have an informative public forum discussion on ‘Access to Justice for Women.’
Yours faithfully,
Cindy Sookdeo
Regional Councillor
