300% increase in sexual violence cases in Region 2

Police records have revealed that Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) has seen an increase of 300 per cent in cases of sexual violence, according to Regional Commander Denise Griffith.

Commander Griffith has said she is currently working to address these matters and bring such cases under control. She made this revelation during this week’s episode of “Police and You”, wherein she said that rape is one of the most prevalent acts in the region.

“Three hundred per cent might sound alarming, but it simply means that last year might have had one, and this year might have had three or four. That, to mind, an examination comes because of the age factor… a child cannot give consent unless she attains the age of 16…it’s no longer where we have the forceful entry of a male on a female, but now it’s more or less a touching,” the Commander said.

She added that in most cases where the females would be involved in sexual activities, persons are not aware of the statutory age range, and that is considered rape.

Robberies

Apart from the increase in rape cases, the Commander said there has also being an increase in the number of cases of robbery-under-arms. Even with this increase in robbery, the Commander said, there has been a decrease in several other types of crime.

“We have a decrease of robbery by 50%, our clear-up rate is actually 50%… Even though things are happening, we still have a lot of successes”, she said.

The Commander has said she is of the belief that the increases being encountered in crime-related issues were because the division was without a vehicle for some time.

“I want to believe that because we were out of a vehicle for some time in the Region, that caused a spike, because persons were aware that there are no vehicles and they targeted certain areas… Another thing is that some persons in the area might not want to say anything out of fear…that is it for crime”, she explained.

Only last week, Police statistics revealed that sexual offences reported in Division One (Barima-Waini) are on the increase.

Region One Commander, Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud, said most of these cases are reported after pregnancy had occurred, and in his Region, there were 48 complaints compared to 14 last year, and 14 had been against 3 the previous year.

Curbing the increase in these cases, the Commander said, calls for sensitisation of the communities on the issues at hand. (G9)