The Women & Gender Equality Commission has taken note of the recent media reports in which a senior female police officer has accused a high-ranking male police officer of multiple sexual assaults. We have also taken note of the response from the Minister of Home Affairs under whose purview the Guyana Police Force resides. Minister Waldron has said an investigation has been launched into the matter since January 2026 though he is still on the job. The Commission is therefore concerned by the deafening silence of the executive management team of the Guyana Police Force even after all these months.
Over the past several years, the Commission has done extensive work to educate the public as a whole but particularly people in the workplace with regard to the unlawfulness of sexual harassment and the gravity of sexual offences and has urged persons to report such matters recognizing that in many instances, victims are constrained by fear and embarrassment. What is particularly unacceptable in this instance, is that serving members of the Guyana Police Force, who are mandated to serve and protect the public, are themselves subject to sexual abuse from within their own institution. The victims very often, are themselves subject to the same fear and other constraints that are often the more potent features of sexual exploitation in the workplace and serve to retard them from reporting to the relevant agencies.
The senior police officer who made the accusations, overcame fear and embarrassment and was brave enough to report the incidents to the Minister of Home Affairs. An act which seemed to have resulted in her being transferred to another post. We are unable to confirm whether any appropriate actions were taken in response to the allegations of rape. Was the high-ranking officer relieved from duty as is customary in this type of case?
Every Guyanese has the right to work and to do so in a safe environment. No one in this country should ever be made to choose between their safety, their dignity and their livelihood. Human Rights are meaningless if those who violate it are protected by the very institutions charged with upholding said rights. It is the responsibility of all of us but in particular those who bear a duty of care, including Ministers, Agency Heads and Law Enforcement to ensure the rights of all rights holders are protected and upheld. This case represents a test of Guyana’s institutions on whether they are capable of holding the ‘powerful’ accountable. It is therefore an imperative that we must not fail in this instance.
