Critical service delivery systems such as counselling and providing shelters to victims need to be strengthened to aid in achieving the objectives of the donor-funded Spotlight Initiative which is intended to eliminate violence against women and girls.
This was one of the recommendations made in the 2021 Spotlight Initiative annual report which was recently released to the public.
“It has been suggested by interviewees that strengthening critical service delivery systems such as counselling, providing a shelter for the victims, training, and support in establishing small businesses will aid in achieving the objectives of Spotlight Initiative. There is a need for livelihood initiatives coupled with psychosocial support, especially for depressed/informal communities. It is deemed necessary to engage community members in healthful activities where they live, work, worship, play, and learn,” the report revealed.
According to the report, over 2217 individuals including survivors of gender-based violence, from the various regions, received psychosocial services inclusive of counselling and forensic interviews as well as referrals for other supportive services, community-based awareness, and advocacy initiatives.
The report also found that there is a need for a more “frequent” presence in the fields to raise awareness of the initiative since in some communities, residents are only aware of its name.
“It is necessary to improve the channels of communication, conflict resolution and the various channels of reporting and to ask questions about human rights, the rights of victims and the consequences for perpetrators,” the report stated.
The report also stated that additional time is required in the targeted communities, especially the hinterland in order to better understand the concerns of residents. “The village of Baramita (Region One) is one such valid example since it was extremely challenging to communicate with the residents, and the interactions were limited to village council members, a few business owners and law enforcement officials,” the report noted.
The Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030. It was launched here on November 1st, 2020.
Guyana has been allocated €4.5M ($1 billion) to assist its efforts to tackle gender-based and family violence over a period of three years. It is one of six Caribbean countries to benefit from the initiative.
Several communities are targeted from Regions 4 and 5 (Coastland) and Regions 1 and 7 (Hinterland).
Setbacks
Despite “unprecedented” setbacks following its launch in 2020 including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spotlight Initiative remains active.
According to the report, alternative mechanisms were adopted to accelerate the implementation of the programme and by the end of 2021, 77 percent of all of its activities were initiated.
“One major accomplishment realized over the period was achieving the 70 percent delivery rate required for the disbursement of the second tranche of funds for Phase 1,” the report said.
In July 2021, the programme achieved the 70 percent delivery rate required for the disbursement of the second tranche of Phase 1 funds. By the end of 2021, 77 percent of the annual work plan was initiated, with 38 percent commencing within the first half of the year and 39 percent in the latter half,” it explained.
Six percent of the remaining 23 percent that is yet to commence is expected to start this year. “While 17 percent is off track,” the report said.
With the agenda to bring about transformative changes in the lives of women and girls, the report said the Spotlight Initiative is “moving ahead”. This year, it is expected that the work will continue on legislation.
Further, the report stated that there will be development of models for the one-stop centres and the remote mobile services, a national database and other important activities that will contribute to and over time reduce gender-based violence here.
The issue of gender-based violence is one that is high on the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s (MOHSSS) agenda.
However, with the frequent occurrence of incidents of violence, particularly domestic violence-related deaths involving women, victims seem to often times experience difficulty in accessing the help they need.
In many instances, victims relate having nowhere to go after leaving their abusive partners, financial dependency and/or their safety.
Some also criticise the treatment they experience from law enforcement officials when making a report. It is expected that the training of police officers under the COPSQUAD initiative will resolve this challenge.
In August 2021, MHSSS in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs launched the COPSQUAD 2000 initiative, which will see the training of 2,000 policemen and women who will be dealing with reports of domestic violence.
The training course will include aspects on interrogation, assessment of safety, counselling, response to people who visit a police station to make a complaint and how case reports should be written. It will also train officers in how to deal with the alleged perpetrators and it was noted that counselling done by the ministry has helped a number of persons who physically assaulted their partners.
Upon the successful completion of the training, ranks are outfitted with a badge which will help victims to easily identity the ranks they are reporting to.
