Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 01, 2023 News
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has recorded approximately 900 cases of domestic violence for the year 2022.
Subject Minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud had announced the Ministry would be keeping track of the cases via the 914 hotline. She said a total of 360 domestic violence cases were reported via the 914 hotline during the first six months of 2022.
This represented an increase in reports when compared to the 260 cases that were reported for the same period in 2021.
“A number of calls came in via the 914 hotline were directly related to domestic violence at least 40% of those calls were related to domestic violence of all different forms,” the Minister said.
Dr. Persaud said the ministry is paying keen attention to the situation and is working on extending shelters for persons facing abuse.
She noted that, “Right now, we are working on two shelters to add to the shelters that we have in existence and have partnership we have with NGO for persons who are faced with domestic violence.”
“There are people who see it, they get into a habit of reporting it, and we also have been training the Police Force in the top squad initiative. We’ve trained over 4800 of those persons so next we’ll be able to have a graduation for them,” the Minister said.
The 914 hotline initiative came even as sustained efforts are being made locally to raise awareness about the societal scourge.
In collaboration with the Spotlight Initiative Guyana, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security launched an ‘iMatter application’ in 2022 to provide quick access to Government’s services related to gender-based violence via an electronic panic button and to provide access to the 914 toll-free domestic abuse hotlines.
According to the Mid-Year Report released by the Ministry of Finance last year, of the 360 cases recorded for the first half of the year, a total of 46 were addressed by the legal aid services. The victims were not classified by gender.
For its part, the government has promised a complete overhaul of the Domestic Violence Act (1996) to help tackle the social issue. As part of the 2022 legislative agenda, with a view to address major social issues, the government has also promised to overhaul the Sexual Offences Act (2010).
Over the years, there were many cases of domestic violence cases that ended in death. As such, Minister Persaud has been encouraging persons to work with the ministry to spread awareness to help reduce domestic violence.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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