NGO, Red Thread yesterday maintained its protest for Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence to be removed over her attempts to shield an APNU+AFC candidate who was accused of child molestation and another counter-picket was held by her supporters.
Three weeks ago, Stabroek News reported that Lawrence had referred to molestation accusations against Winston Harding, APNU+AFC candidate for the Georgetown City Council as a “family matter.” Rights group Red Thread and other child advocacy groups have since called for her to be removed. Lawrence is a key figure in the PNCR, the major component of the ruling coalition.
Red Thread’s protest outside of the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday was again countered by a small group of women who picketed in defence of the Minister. Decked out in t-shirts and placards bearing Lawrence’s picture and words of support, the women stood at the opposite side of the road to show solidarity with the Minister.
Karen Reece, one of Lawrence’s supporters said that the group took it upon themselves to stage the picketing exercise out of concern for the “allegations” being made against the Minister in sections of the media.
“I won’t be able to say about the comments she made, I am about the voice of the people, we are out here because of the discrimination we see in the news and on TV,” Reece said before going on to state that the group is not comfortable with the “throwing of words and the talking and the allegations” against Lawrence since they are of the belief that the Minister is being wrongfully accused.
When asked who she felt should be blamed for the situation, Reece stated that facts of the case should be properly reviewed before accusations are made.
“They have to get to the bottom of their story because Ms. Lawrence is the Minister yes, but how long has she been a Minister in that Ministry?” she asked.
On the comments which landed Lawrence in hot water, Reece said “I wouldn’t say if she made those comments because I didn’t hear she make any comments…the papers can say anything, but I didn’t hear that from her mouth and the woman I know her to be is a woman for children; a woman who has shown great love for children; a woman who dedicated her whole life to children. I know the work she puts in for children,” she declared.
Another protester asked why the allegations against Harding did not come to light under the previous administration.
“Why didn’t they come out and protest in the 23 years when the PPP was in power? Why the sister didn’t come out for that same brother, Harding who use to come out and do every single thing he use to do under the power of the PPP? Why they wait until now when this government in power to come now to run Minister Volda Lawrence down?” the supporter asked. Harding’s sister, Sharon has been vocal in calling for her brother to be held accountable over the child molestation charges.
The Lawrence supporter said “We will not stand for it, we are there for her and we are going to protest until we meet the end for her because I can see no wrong with what she did. Red Thread didn’t put she deh, is we the people put she deh and they ain’t got nobody who could move Volda unless we vote her out and we are not going to vote her out. The woman who is making these allegation … there was a Minister there before Ms. Lawrence, why didn’t she bring it up then?”
Ardent
On the other side of the road, Head of Red Thread, Karen de Souza told the media that she found it interesting to see such ardent supporters of the Minister, adding that based on what she had seen, the placards being displayed by the women on the opposite end do not speak to the issue of child protection.
“They are prepared clearly to defend Minister Lawrence regardless of anything; they are not speaking of child protection nor are they speaking of the (accused molester) that they are defending. But it is clearly a very resourced picket and I hope it’s not taxpayer dollars that is supporting it,” de Souza said.
She added: “Volda Lawrence as the Minister responsible for Social Protection has done nothing in relation to child protection, she has done nothing in relation to the social issues, sexual offences in relation to domestic violence…..in this particular instance, she intervened in a matter regarding a child and did not protect the child, in fact she protected the (alleged) abuser of that child because he (Harding) is a party member, because he is a candidate on the local government list and that is absolutely unacceptable. This is behaviour that we have seen over and over again, this is behaviour that we have condemned under the last Government and it is a behaviour that we will continue to condemn under this government,” de Souza said.
Alluding to one of the placards displayed by the group of Lawrence supporters which read, ‘Webster didn’t do it, Manickchand didn’t do it, so why we expect Volda Lawrence to do it’, de Souza stated that she no longer has the expectation of the Minister fixing anything since she has already demonstrated that she can’t do it.
“She can’t fix it, she’s not interested in fixing it, and so we’re saying that she has to go,” the activist said.
Similar sentiments were shared by fellow human rights activist Sherlina Nageer as well as Sharon Harding, sister of the accused child molester.
Nageer described the situation as being very disturbing and disappointing, saying, “we are seeing a trend of party politics taking precedence over children rights, women’s rights. It is very disappointing; we voted for change, we voted for things to be done differently not the same ole same ole.”
“It’s very disturbing that we are seeing pretty much the same thing that we saw under the PPP being perpetrated by Minister Volda Lawrence. Child abuse and child molestation is an epidemic … here in Guyana and we need it to be taken seriously; we need children who have been victims to be taken seriously, their concern must not just be brushed aside,” she added.
Nageer also blamed the judicial system for failing victims, describing the system as a broken one.
“The position that the Minister has taken … it seems to be clearly equivalent to privileged party politics and child rights injustice and that’s what we, Red Thread have always stood against and we will continue to do just that,” Nageer related.
A disappointed Harding noted that at one time she was on the same platform as the Minister having campaigned on her behalf at the 2015 general election.
Harding said, “She (Lawrence) issued a call saying it is the time to respect our women and children, but who is she respecting now? Children need to be protected at all cost, every single child, more so every human being. Never in history has child molestation been a ‘family issue’”.
The candidate, Winston Harding who has been charged more than once in the past but not convicted and is the subject of an ongoing matter, now holds a seat on the Georgetown City Council. Harding managed to secure a large number of votes in his constituency even though APNU+AFC withdrew its support for him after a news item in Stabroek News on the charges against him.
