Dear Editor,
There is news that the Ministry of Social Protection has lamented the recent murders of women by men. The report of the statement in the Guyana Chronicle is unfortunately familiar to similar reports made by government officials in the previous administration. These statements deliberately offered rhetoric and promises but never committed to any of the serious action.
In 1996, Guyana passed the Domestic Violence Act. This Act was progressive in its time. In the years since, NGOs and other organisations have been working with scarce public funds to educate the public about domestic violence and to encourage gender equality in some cases.
These efforts are difficult to sustain as donor agencies pursue different agendas.
In the Guyana Chronicle report, the Minister calls for “more trained counsellors”. Counsellors, like ministers, need to be paid for their work. The University of Guyana Social Work programme does not aim to provide counselling training. There is a post graduate diploma which is being developed at the moment.
The culture though, fuelled by the private sector, seems to reinforce the culture of gender-based violence. There are billboards encouraging men and boys to drink alcohol to be a man (small print notwithstanding), or to be consumers of products as part of the degradation of women. While many pretend the discussion around beauty pageants is supposed to be about ‘empowering women’, the actual discussion which takes place is usually about humiliating those who ‘are not fit to be Queen’. The media reports of the murders hint at ‘causes’ ‒ alleged infidelity in one recent report, promiscuity in another, so women are blamed always. A recent Stabroek News report, and a Kaieteur News report on March 9, 2015 (Survey shows Guyanese generally accept domestic violence) reflects on the responses in the Latin American public opinion poll. There is a high tolerance for abuse reflected in the voting of men in parliament who are called ‘honourable’ despite their contempt and dreams of violence towards women with whom they disagree or who question them.
There is an inconsistent police response. There is one report of a woman who had obtained a protection order but still had to go into hiding because the police were not responding to the violation of the order. There is police training, but the training has not transferred into accountability mechanisms at each police station. Some police are helpful, others are not. It is luck and chance.
While the government has changed, it seems that the attitude to domestic violence remains the same. The Ministry of Social Protection might not be aware that Section 44 of the Domestic Violence Act speaks to actions. There is a role identified as a Director of Human Services.
“1) The Director of Human Services in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security shall be responsible for—
(a) promoting and developing educational programmes for the prevention of domestic violence;
(b) studying, investigating and publishing reports on the domestic violence problem in Guyana, its manifestations and scope; the consequences and the options for confronting and eradicating it in conjunction with the Police Force and other agencies and organisations;
(c) identifying groups and sectors in society in which domestic abuse is manifested and educating these groups and sectors making them aware of the skills required to combat domestic violence;
(d) creating an awareness among society with regard to the needs of victims of domestic violence and their families;
(e) developing strategies to encourage changes in the policies and procedures in government agencies in order to improve their response to the needs of the victims of domestic violence;
(f) establishing and encouraging the establishment of programmes on information, support and counselling services for victims of domestic violence;
(g) encouraging programmes of services for boys and girls who come from homes where there is abuse and violence;
(h) providing training and orientation services for police officers and persons who assist in the treatment and counselling of victims of domestic violence and abuse; and
(i) analysing and carrying out studies on the need for education and retraining for persons who engage in conduct that constitutes domestic violence and abuse and for their rehabilitation.
“(2) In carrying out his responsibilities the Director of Human Services may collaborate with such governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental organisations as he thinks fit.”
Citizens should expect that the person who is performing the role of Director of Human Services will be accountable for the mechanisms given under the Domestic Violence Act. Lamentation alone makes no sense.
Yours faithfully,
Vidyaratha Kissoon