Dear Editor,
As the world gets ready to mark International Women’s Day Friday March 8, we in Guyana want to know why after three years, the Sexual Offences Act, 2010 is still to deliver justice to the hundreds of victims of sexual offences in Guyana.
We know that close to a thousand sexual offence cases referred to the High Court of Guyana were unable to go forward until the amendments to the SOA passed by the National Assembly were signed into effect by the President of Guyana. This has only recently happened, and what this means is that there already exists a large backlog of cases on top of which are the many other more recent sexual offences cases still awaiting investigation and charges. We are aware that it will take years for these cases to be heard which was one of the compelling reasons for enactment of the new SOA 2010 so that justice is not denied because of these delays.
What the SOA 2010 needed and still needs is an overhaul of the way that sexual offences are addressed. There needs to be ongoing specialized training for all sectors of the justice system, health and social services and law enforcement on the provisions of the SOA 2010. The practice of ‘confrontations’ between the accused and victim still continues even though this is specifically repealed in the SOA 2010. The lack of an integrated and comprehensive service and protocols for the treatment and care of victims of sexual violence also needs to be addressed urgently. The responsibility of the state to educate Guyanese about the SOA 2010 has failed to materialize for the past 3 years.
What is equally unacceptable is that the Sexual Offences Task Force, an inter-agency body, whose overall responsibility, as outlined in the SOA, is to develop a national plan for the prevention of sexual offences and the eradication of sexual violence in Guyana is not being allowed to do its work because the Ministry of Human Services has failed to convene meetings.
This denial of the legal rights of victims and survivors of sexual violence to justice in the courts of Guyana reflects a callous disregard for the physical and psychological health and safety of thousands of girls, boys, women, particularly persons with disabilities and the LGBT community who are the most vulnerable to sexual crimes.
We are aware that according to the recent Government of Guyana Report to the United Nations Rights of the Child Committee, an astonishing 224 cases of sexual abuse of children were recorded between January and March, 2012 by the Childcare & Protection Agency (CPA). Taking into account that this number reflects only reported cases to the CPA, we can assume that the actual number of cases of child sexual abuse is significantly higher as such incidents tend to be severely under-reported.
A recent school-based study on sexual violence against girls and females in the Caribbean found that 20% of the first sexual encounters among sexually active adolescents were “forced” or “somewhat forced.” It is reasonable to assume that these figures hold good for Guyana, and that at least 20% of the 3,000 Guyanese girls who leave school annually due to pregnancy as reported by the Govern-ment of Guyana’s January 2013 report to the UN Rights of the Child Report, are probably also survivors of such “forced” or “somewhat forced” sex, that is, rape.
We are living in a country with a government which has failed to guarantee the right of its citizens and in particular its children and women, to live lives free from the brutality and horror of sexual violence, and the right to prosecution and redress from these crimes against humanity.
We demand justice for the survivors and victims of sexual offences. We demand that the Sexual Offences Act be fully implemented without delay and that the Sexual Offence Task Force be allowed to carry out its functions as set out in the SOA 2010. We call on the state as duty bearers to uphold its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Inter-American Convention on the prevention, punishment and eradication of violence against women (Belem do Para Convention) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) without delay.
Yours faithfully,
Omattie Madray, ChildLink
Norma Adrian, Grassroots Women
Across Race
Leon Walcott, Guyana Council of
Organizations for Persons with
Disabilities
Pamela Nauth, Guyana
Responsible Parenthood
Association
Josephine Whitehead, Help &
Shelter
Karen de Souza, Red Thread
Zenita Nicholson, SASOD
