Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 13, 2016 Sports
“The Domestic Violence problem that presently prevails in our society is one which has caught the attention of all of us here.”
This was the assertion of Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence, who reminded
that the Sexual Offences Act of 2010 prescribes that there be a National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence, and that the Task Force be chaired by the Minister of Social Protection and comprise representatives from the Ministries of Public Security, Legal Affairs, Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Social Protection, Education, Local Government and Public Health.
On Thursday last at Parliament Buildings, Minister Lawrence along with the Ministers of Public Security, Public Health and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs signed on to the protocols to have the Task Force operational.
In addition, the Ministry of Social Protection, with the assistance of the Canadian High Commission of Guyana, has been able to provide a new department within the Ministry – the Sexual and Domestic Violence Unit.
The Task force, as currently outlined in the Act, has the requisite staff to carry out the decisions made at the meetings of the task force. “We are at the get-set line and we are ready to go,” Minister Lawrence said.
She said that it is intended that the committee will meet again in February/March of 2017 in order to look at the action plan and discuss the draft action with a view to tabling programmes accordingly. Minister Lawrence said that she hopes that the programmes can be coordinated with the other ministries.
Manager of the Sexual and Domestic Violence Unit, Akilah Doris said that, the Unit was officially launched at the beginning of October this year. According to Doris, the Unit is geared towards developing policies that speak to the eradication of all forms of violence, not just domestic or sexual.
Doris said that the unit works closely with its partners in the field of violence reduction, sexual offences, domestic violence, and gender-based violence, to brainstorm ways and ideas to “tackle this issue at the root”.
Doris mentioned that the unit believes in coordinated collaboration if they are going to address this phenomenon. According to Doris, “it is rather unfortunate what our data shows us, the number of children who are affected by sexual violence, domestic violence…also the number of women and even some men”.
“We are here to serve the citizenry of Guyana and we are encouraging the citizenry to engage with us, share your ideas, come on board and support this worthy cause.” Doris further stated that, “I am sure together we will end all forms of violence against each other”.
Signing of the protocols is one of the many initiatives that the unit would have planned. The signing was for medical practitioners and police officers as well as prosecutors. Very shortly they will be addressing and developing those protocols, also speaking to prison officers.
The Unit plans to increase awareness and sensitisation efforts countrywide, as many Guyanese are unaware that there is a unit specifically developed to tackle this sort of issue, said Doris.
“They have a lot of information, but also need information from their partners out there. The Unit encourages persons to allow them to work together.”
According to Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, “The fact that we have this document at our disposal is a good guide that the medical practitioners will use, and it will also remind them about their duties.
And Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock explained, “I see this as very useful and we’re going to make good use of it. I’m very happy that the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs is a part of the process, because we are in the hinterland, and we need more education to understand the laws”.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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