The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has called on the Government and other requisite agencies to ensure that help for abused women and girls is always accessible across the country.
The GHRA, in observance of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2020, celebrated on November 25, 2020, highlighted the many shortcomings in local systems on the subject of abused women and girls.
With the emergence of the pandemic, the Association stated that the importance of reporting and believing victims must increase and become more routine. It recommended that the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) develop a more thorough victim-oriented approach as, for many victims, a more personal initial response that is welcoming and sympathetic is needed rather than a legal one.
The GHRA also reiterated its call for women-focused police stations staffed by policewomen trained in domestic violence and sexual offences, where women could be assured of a sensitive hearing by trained staff.
“…Responses are neither routine nor predictable – nor even available – outside of Georgetown. The extent to which victims have to go to prove the validity of accusations of violence is a good indicator of the gulf between need and response. If someone claims to be a victim of a robbery, there is an instinctive belief that what they are saying is true. By contrast, women who end up murdered, stalked or badly beaten by males too often have failed to convince the police when making previous complaints about the individual who eventually killed them,” the Association said.
Furthermore, the GHRA stated that the number and regularity of violent crimes against women in Guyana in recent months is shocking. The Association pointed to the cases of elderly women living alone being targets for robberies and younger women and girls in crimes of passion, involving deaths, physical and verbal abuse and extreme brutality by men.
“A concerted response to violence against women and girls by men must be prioritized over all other forms of criminality,” the Association urged.
It also called for the type of services pioneered by NGOs such as Help and Shelter be massively multiplied across the country and their resources increased.
