Main opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is calling on government to set up an “Inter-Personal Violence Unit” to combat the “raging” violence, particularly against women.
Reading from a statement yesterday at a press conference, APNU Leader David Granger said that the party has lost confidence in the agencies of the Ministries of Home Affairs and Human Services “to deal with the epidemic of inter-personal violence which has been plaguing the county over several years.”
In the case of the Guyana Police Force, Granger said that the body has failed to install a Central Domestic Violence Unit at its headquarters and at divisional, sub-divisional and station levels, and added that “there is no task force to prevent crimes and to protect victims of inter-personal and domestic violence when and where credible threats have been identified.”
Granger urged that if progress is to be made on this matter, a task force, which will, among other things, spark a national conversation on the issue, must be set up.
It was also stated that the Human Services Ministry, despite the passage of the Domestic Violence Act in 1995, is yet to establish the necessary institutions which are to implement, enforce, and oversee the Act’s provision. This, the party said, constitutes another failure.
As a result of these deficiencies, Granger said, “inter-personal violence has been allowed to reach epidemic proportions in term of its frequency, brutality and widespread nature.”
APNU MP Debra Backer, also at the press engagement, told reporters that these acts of violence, particularly domestic abuse, are as equally important as some of the other issues which have received a lot of attention lately. Backer said that when domestic abuse is perpetrated it has the propensity to indirectly affect the health sector as well as the economy.
She cautioned though, that interpersonal violence does not just refer to domestic abuse committed against men and women. Instead, she said, whenever one person responds violently to another, regardless of sex or age, inter-personal violence takes place.
Backer is of the view that the proliferation of this type of behaviour is “everyone’s business,” especially since it “diminishes us as Guyanese.”
Backer’s fellow APNU MP and former Police Commissioner Winston Felix argued that the Unit would help the relevant agencies to be more proactive rather than reactive in addressing inter-personal violence. Felix said that in his experience, while the police force may be unaware of acts of inter-personal violence, including domestic violence, there is almost always someone, or several persons in the victims’ communities who are aware of what is taking place.
Granger said that since most acts of violence occur at the household and community levels, Neighbourhood Policing Groups have an integral role to play in this strategy.
He posited that members of these groups would be aware of acts of violence in their communities, therefore enabling them to liaise with the police force in their bid to monitor and prevent acts of violence.
Such a partnership, Felix said, should insist “that incidents of inter-personal violence must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of the class, race, status or wealth of the perpetrators.” In his critique of the existing system, Felix alluded to the incomplete nature of some laws.
The former Commissioner recalled that during his tenure, police officers, heeding the pleas of battered women, would shy away from following through with legal actions against male abusers, many of whom, he said, were the sole or primary bread winners. He said though, that with the change of the law, the abusers are taken out of the home for an extended period of time, leaving the woman, and often times the children, with little or no means of getting by.
The state, he argued, needs to follow through on such policies by setting up social services and programmes which assist women and children in such situations. Granger meanwhile, called for “better trained law enforcement agencies supported by a stronger judicial system, particularly for vulnerable women and children.”
Noting, previous cries about lack of resources by the Human Services Ministry, Felix declared that the prices for such services should not be an issue. Reinforcing the point made by Backer, he said that if the government of Guyana can find money for projects such as the Marriott, it should make the effort to bring support services to those who are vulnerable to acts of violence.
According to Backer, as an opposition party, APNU does not have the necessary resources to tackle the issue, hence the call to government. Granger said, however, that the APNU is fully open to cooperating with the government to find solutions to such acts of violence.
According to Granger, one such solution would be to include the “teaching of values and standards aimed at eliminating the mentality and factors that contribute to disrespect and the abuse of women and girls”. He said this could begin with the primary schools.
Granger was adamant though, that the party would not be engaging the Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee in such an endeavour since he is not “competent enough to deal with these matters,” and, in general, has failed in his mandate to ensure domestic security.”
In fact, Granger said, APNU feels that the responsibility should be taken out of his hands.
