…HSSS intervened in 4,367 cases between 2022 and 2024
Two interventions focused on helping individuals recognise unhealthy relationships are set to be launched by the Ministry of Human Services within 2025.
These programmes will aim to empower individuals to identify positive relationships and provide support for leaving unhealthy ones before they reach a critical point.
Human Services Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud revealed this at a recent public consultation and symposium at the Umana Yana on Monday.
The consultation was hosted in collaboration with the Legal Affairs Ministry, Imperial House, the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), and Child Link to mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
According to her, what is being introduced this year are two initiatives: the (CUT programme), which speaks to relationships, and the (Para programme), which speaks to partners.
Human Services Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud
The relationship programme is geared towards teaching individuals how to recognise unhealthy relationships and how to seek counsel for them.
It will also educate them on recognising when a relationship is not right for them, ultimately teaching them that it’s okay to leave a toxic relationship.
Additionally, she relayed that the Human Services Ministry will be heavily focused on counselling.
However, this does not diminish the work being done in relation to men and boys.
“Two other interventions are coming up this year, focused specifically on men. And it doesn’t mean that work has not been done with men and boys. The Gender Affairs Bureau (GAB), Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA), the Family Enhancement Services Unit (FESU), and the Sexual Offences Domestic Violence Unit have all been working with men and boys, forming men’s groups, holding gender sessions, and addressing conflict resolution and anger management,” she said.
For 2024 alone, a significant 33 per cent reduction in domestic violence has been recorded, which is due to efforts like these being made to ensure further reduction.
“Brave Circle”
Meanwhile, shifting her focus to men, the Human Services Minister highlighted that a “Brave Circle” programme is set to be launched, aimed at helping men identify and address issues related to domestic violence.
“The second programme is called the Brave Circle; this comes out of the policy focused on perpetrators and the rehabilitation of at-risk people. I’m saying ‘people’ because a lot of this will focus on men, as statistics show that 94 per cent of women are affected, and 6 per cent are men in terms of the people who report to us,” she added.
She further explained, “This Brave Circle focuses on how men can identify positively and not always see themselves as a negative element or a perpetrator, and how we can work on changing behaviours among men before they head into the perpetrators stage.”
Thus, she encouraged social media influencers and people with media platforms to use them, stating that continued publicity of efforts like these can make individuals feel as though they are not alone.
Meanwhile, the Human Services and Social Security (HSSS) Ministry, in conjunction with the University of Guyana (UG) is working on a number of initiatives aimed at addressing gaps in the delivery of social services to hinterland communities.
The collaboration will offer a training programme where people in hinterland and remote locations can benefit from employment in the social services sector, ultimately better serving the needs of those communities.
Human Services Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud provided details about this collaboration.
“People ask, ‘What are you doing for the hinterland communities?’ We have these programmes in the hinterland. There is a social services mobile unit in Region One, which offers all the services of the Ministry, and we are going to be populating that mobile unit so that it can offer the same services as a first-time occurrence,” she said.
“And to complement that, the Ministry is offering a paraprofessional training programme where people in the hinterland and remote communities can be employed by us and trained on the job through the University of Guyana to provide social services in those areas,” she added.
She explained that this is aimed at addressing a long-existing gap in social services for Guyana’s hinterland regions.
With all these advancements underway, Dr Persaud hopes that people will stay abreast of the transformation taking place.
Minister Persaud emphasised that her Ministry continues to work countrywide under various initiatives to improve the delivery of social services to citizens.
“One of the things that happened, in addition to all of the work we have been doing before, is the support network for survivors,” she said.
“And so, currently, we have been working with 200 of these survivors as we rolled out this programme earlier this year. From 2022 to 2024, we have directly intervened in 4,367 cases. The support for the criminal justice system would also be complementary to what we do, as we have intervened in 3,387 of those cases that came to us. Referrals could include anything from referring someone to a police station, counselling, or mental health support. We have referred 1,003 cases.”
