Dear Editor,
The SN of 27 Jan, 2021 has a report of a court case – rape from the High Court in Berbice. The rapist, a man was sentenced for 11 years. There is reference in the news report that it seems four persons associated with the rapist, approached the survivor and asked the survivor to “forgive” the rapist. A quiet sentence in the report, but vital to understanding why we will never be able deal with rape and other sexual violence in Guyana. It was not clear if the associates of the rapists expected the survivor to forget the rape, and to drop the charges.
There are no reports if anyone questioned the associates as to if they think, as citizens, that rape is ‘forgivable’ as say, accidentally touching someone in passing. The woman who survived the rape addressed the court and noted that “I’m not the only person that (name) does this to”. Were the associates of the rapist successful in getting forgetting and forgiveness done with other people who might have wanted to bring charges? This story highlights in our country, that rapists are not only created by their families and communities, but also nurtured by them.
And that in Guyana, justice it seems, cannot only be based on rehabilitating those who commit sexual offences, but also rehabilitating those who seek to approach the survivors and believe that there should be no consequences or accountability for the violence. That rehabilitation probably has to extend to the whole society which seems to have a high tolerance for sexual violence and other forms of gender based violence. There is another case reported in the papers from the High Court. The case was dismissed as the virtual complainant was absent – she was a child at the time of the offence.
There were no reports if associates of the alleged rapist also ‘approach-ed’ the VC to ‘forgive’ and forget. It is clear that justice for any one case of sexual violence will only come not only from the penalties for the offender, but also from some wider social change to condemn sexual violence in all its forms.
Yours sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
