Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 16, 2014 News
The Red Thread Organisation, Society Against Sexual Orientation
Discrimination (SASOD) and Guyana Trans United staged a picketing exercise in front of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs yesterday to highlight that the government and the system have failed to protect Amerindian girls and women in general from rape as many allegations have recently surfaced pertaining to rape in the hinterlands.
Some of the placards displayed by the Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) read: “Minister what are you doing about the problem of rape, sexual abuse in the hinterland?,” “We need proper enforcement of the Sexual Offences Act not just lip service;” “Minister what are you doing to help raped Amerindian girls/women;” “Rape/Sexual Abuse is not our culture, not acceptable!” “Justice Now! Justice in the hinterland, Justice Now!” “Justice for all rape victims now from coast to the hinterland,” “Too much rape/ sexual abuse in the Hinterland and coast.”
The protest comes on the heels of a pregnant 12-year-old Amerindian girl being admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation to deliver her first baby. The child was admitted to the country’s premier medical institution last Saturday after she was air-dashed from the Lethem Hospital where she was first taken after she began experiencing abdominal pains.
Kaieteur News understands that the child, who hails from a place called Caponarib in the Rupununi District, is claiming that she was impregnated by her stepfather. The State of World Population 2013,” produced by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), lists Guyana among the six countries of the Caribbean with the highest prevalence of teenage pregnancy.
Red Thread members reminded that the Sexual Offences Act clearly spells out the procedures that law enforcement and public health personnel must follow in order to assist the victims of sexual offences attain justice.
“This is an issue we have been picketing about for a while now and we are calling for justice for all rape victims from the coast to the hinterland. We are here at the Amerindian Affairs Ministry to register our concerns over the rapes and sexual abuse that happens in the hinterland that we know about, we hear some of the stories because they don’t know their rights and they cannot afford to come to the city to tell their stories.”
One protestor explained, “We have a Sexual Offences Act that is not being implemented or enforced. The Act is not just the responsibility of one Ministry but multiple Ministries are supposed to be working together and we have not heard anything from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs which is silent on the issues of rape.
“People only seeing when they are making a donation and they tend to ignore social issues.”
Another protestor disclosed that the issues also highlight advantage being taken by people in authority such as Toshaos, Government officials and others who prey on the vulnerability of girls and women.
“We are calling for justice to be served, the Amerindian Affairs Ministry clearly don’t have these people interest at heart, or else they would have launched investigations and educate the Amerindian population on what is acceptable and what is not,” another protestor noted.
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