Cases of sexual offences against children, teenage pregnancy rampant in Reg 1

Remaining silent after witnessing sexual and domestic violence should not be an option. This opinion was expressed by officials from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) during a recent outreach to Kwebanna and Manawarin in Region One (Barima-Waini).

This is in light of the region recording a high number of reports of sexual offences against children, and teenage pregnancy. DPP’s Office Communications Officer Liz Rahaman and State Counsel Marisa Edwards collaborated with the Women and Gender Equality Commission (W&GEC) on the three-day initiative.
Held from April 13 to 15, 2023, the outreach was mostly attended by women and girls, who were urged to call the Police when they witness acts of violence in their community.
“Stop peeping from behind your blinds when your neighbour is being beaten up, regardless if it’s a man or woman…domestic violence, sexual violence are all crimes and crime is everybody’s business,” one official expressed in an impassioned plea to the gathering.
“Call the Police; stop the whispering in your home: ‘look he beating she again or look she beating he again. Because when the beatings escalate to a more serious crime like murder, it will be too late when you tell the Police, ‘is long they fighting, is long he beating she or she beating he’.”
Several residents complained that in the recent past, they would make reports of sexual offences and domestic violence to sitting Toshaos, but often, the reports were not reported to the Acquiro Police Station and sometimes when such reports were, they were not investigated.
To this end, the DPP’s representatives explained that while Toshaos are empowered to deal with issues within their communities, they do not have the authority to deal with serious and indictable criminal matters like sexual offences, murders, and domestic violence.
“You can deal with the issues like disorderly behaviour and noise nuisance, not the serious ones like rape and domestic violence,” a representative from the DPP’s Office advised.
According to a statement from the DPP’s Chambers, other major complaints highlighted were the consumption of alcohol by teenagers and selling of alcohol to them, teenage pregnancy, selling and smoking of marijuana by school-aged children, and the inhalation of gasoline by youths.

Statistics
Statistics for Region One obtained from the Child Care and Protection Agency’s 2022 Annual Report, revealed that there were 29 reports of sexual offences, 30 for delinquent behaviour, 10 for physical abuse, four for attempted suicide, six cases of neglect committed on children, 13 reports of underage and teenage pregnancies and one stab wound report.
From 2022 to present, the DPP’s Chambers received and gave legal advice in some nine Police files for the offences of attempted murder, sexual offences, and felonious wounding.
ln the remote Manawarin area, one elder made an appeal for the relevant authority to establish a Police Outpost in order to have a constant Police presence. The main Acquiro Police Station is approximately one hour away from this area by trail during the dry weather.
Toshaos and residents thanked the DPP’s team for its outreach since it gave them the opportunity to learn and better understand the functions and works of the DPP’s Office within the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, the W&GEC representatives urged women to become more involved in community leadership and governance and to support each other.
“Unity is strength, so come together and pool your knowledge and whatever small resources you have to come up with ways that would be beneficial to your community,” a W&GEC official said.