Almost 30 new cases of domestic violence every month – Help and Shelter

Close to thirty cases of domestic abuse are recorded every month at the Help and Shelter organization, this is according to its Director and Project Coordinator, Margaret Kertzious.

The Director pointed out that the figures for violence against women are rising rapidly, with only a minority of men reporting abuse at the hands of their spouse.
“For the women, the numbers are larger while there are only a small percentage of men,” she said, adding that the non-governmental organisation has been recording about 30 new cases every month within the last year.
“Something has to be done and it has to be done soon,” she noted. Kertzious, is one among many other Help and Shelter representatives, who have voiced their concerns against the Government not fulfilling its manifesto promises as it relates to women.
In a statement released earlier this week, Help and Shelter had pointed out that in spite of the hosting of a national women’s conference and many consultation sessions, no gender policy has been drafted. In 2015, the NGO submitted written recommendations for Guyana’s gender policy to the Social Protection Ministry’s Gender Unit. However, a year later, the Gender Unit is awaiting a gender specialist and still consulting in the regions.
The NGO further stated that during the past 18 months, domestic violence has continued to escalate, and femicide (killing of women by intimate partners) has continued to claim the lives of at least one woman a month, making Guyana one of the countries with the highest per capita rates for women being murdered as a result of domestic violence, and leaving scores of vulnerable children not only motherless but fatherless, as many of the killers either committed suicide or are imprisoned.
“This cannot be the good life promised for the countless victims and survivors of gender-based violence, including orphaned and at risk children. It seems that the failure of Government to deliver a national response to the problem of domestic violence, lumping it within the category of interpersonal violence and failing to deliver a coherent and informed national gender policy, bodes no good for the advancement of women and girls and gender equality in Guyana,” the NGO in its missive stated.
Help and Shelter also expressed the concern that UNICEF has stated that ‘boys and girls in Guyana are exposed to elevated levels of sexual, psychological and physical abuse at home and in their communities and that exposure to gender-based violence in the home ‘contributes to the aggravated situation of violence against children’.
According to the 2016 US State Department report on Guyana, “Domestic violence and violence against women, including spousal abuse, was widespread.
The law prohibits domestic violence and allows victims to seek prompt protection, occupation, or tenancy orders from a Magistrate”. The report added that out of the 2170 reports of domestic violence cases received by the Police, only 1131 persons were charged; this is for the year 2015.
Kertzious expressed the hope that the recent establishment of a Sexual and Domestic Violence Unit within the Social Protection Ministry would result in overdue actions being taken to address the issue.