500 Gender-Based Violence victims to get free legal services

The Human Services and Social Security Ministry has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bar Association of Guyana, activating the Legal Pro Bono 500 initiative that will provide free legal aid to victims of gender-based violence.

The framework outlines their respective obligations and responsibilities to the Legal Pro Bono 500 Initiative and the Bar Association’s commitment to providing pro bono legal services to 500 gender-based violence victims. It was executed by President of the Bar Association of Guyana, Pauline Chase, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar.
This forms part of the Ministry’s mandate to end gender-based violence and specifically violence against women and girls. Guyana is on a mission to build programmes geared towards providing efficient and effective services to victims of gender-based violence.
The access of free legal services by victims can diminish the losses experienced by women, children, families, and communities in terms of productivity, educational achievement and help break the cycle of violence. Data from the 2019 Guyana Women’s Health and Life Experiences survey revealed most survivors are not accessing services at acceptable rates.
“Access to justice and legal services can be a challenge for vulnerable groups of people across Guyana, owing to high legal costs, limited legal aid reach in certain regions, backlog of cases and lengthy trials, lack of human and technological resources, among others. Therefore, there exists a need for the expansion of legal pro bono services,” said the Ministry in an issued statement.
Taking this into consideration, the initiative was conceptualised by Human Services Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, to expand the provision and reach of free legal services to persons experiencing gender-based violence.
“The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security recognises that the Bar Association of Guyana is equipped with the necessary resources and expertise to provide high quality essential legal services and is therefore, a reliable strategic partner to provide additional free legal services to gender-based violence victims.”
To ensure that this Initiative is effectively managed and is sustainable, the Ministry has engaged the United Nations Population Fund under the Spotlight Initiative, the global initiative funded by the European Union to end violence against women and girls worldwide, to provide funding and technical support through the establishment of a legal pro bono referral department.
The Minister has also signalled her intention to engage other existing law societies to provide legal pro bono services and stated that, “Access to justice is even more important when someone has experienced domestic violence and this initiative will complement the already existing and overburdened legal aid services.”
Persaud said she looks forward to a time when, “There will be a lesser need for this type of service but for now, the Ministry is ensuring that every survivor has access to justice as is their fundamental human right.”
In her speech, the President of the Bar Association of Guyana noted that, “Initiatives such as these do not imbalance the scales of lady justice but rather assist in lending balance”.