More proactive measures needed to help abused women – activist

… suggests subsidised housing for victims, more social workers

By Jarryl Bryan

There have been at least two cases within the past two days of women meeting tragic ends. In both cases, the women’s lovers have been held as suspects. And in at least one case, relatives and friends have reported that the victim was known to be in an abusive relationship.
According to women’s rights activist and Commissioner on the Women and Gender Equality Commission, Nicole Cole, there is a pressing need for the Government to do more to prevent more women from losing their lives to the scourge of domestic violence.

In an interview with Guyana Times, the activist said that proactive, rather than reactive measures were called for. These measures, according to Cole, include subsidised housing for women who are trapped in abusive relationships due to poverty.
“Certainly, a proactive measure that is needed in Guyana is Government subsidised housing for women who want to leave an abusive relationship but have nowhere to go,” she said. “(Some) women remain trapped in abusive relationships because there is no alternative housing. Women’s poverty (sometimes) forces them to remain in abusive relationships.” She also noted that in some cases, women are still being brutally murdered even though they have protection orders against their abusers. According to Cole, the fact that perpetrators of these heinous crimes seem to have no fear of protection orders means that the laws to protect women in Guyana are “impotent.” She suggested a femicide law be enacted.
This was the case in the death of 29-year-old Dhanwantie Ram, a Parika, East Bank Essequibo, mother of three who was found strangled on a sofa, with a bed sheet wrapped around her neck last month. Her husband of 12 years was arrested for the crime, after leading the Police on a manhunt.

Reports indicate that the woman and the suspect had an abusive marriage. Because of the abuse Ram faced, she left her martial home with her three children a few days before she was killed. She had reportedly also obtained a restraining order.
Ganesh Dhanraj, the woman’s husband, had reportedly gone to the home of the victim and demanded that she return to his home. He reportedly assaulted her after she refused to comply with his demand.
On the day Ram was murdered, she was reportedly making her way to the Parika Police Station to lodge a report.
She is not the only woman for whom a restraining order proved unable to prevent her gruesome end. There is also the case of Bhartie Udho, who was attacked and brutally chopped late last year. At the time of her death, a restraining order had been initiated against her paramour.
Another woman, Geeta Boodhoo, was attacked in 2014 after taking out a restraining order against her husband. While she survived her attack, her mother, Bibi Zalima Khan; daughter Ashley Boodhoo and friend Floyd Drakes were not so lucky.
In another case, a 30-year-old labourer is alleged to have bypassed a restraining order his estranged paramour, Shelly Norton, had taken against him.
Marc Angoy is alleged to have shot one-year-old Arian Gill and also his daughter, Ashley Wellington. Gill died from her injuries. He subsequently turned himself into Police.

More social workers
Meanwhile, Cole stated that there was a need for community counselling centres, as well as more social workers to be employed to assist with the many abuse cases. She stated that measures such as incentives can be used to attract more people to the profession.
“Who will provide counselling for the two-year-old who saw the brutal killing of her mother?” Cole queried. “Who will help the other siblings cope with the murder of their mother?”
This is a reference to Shenika London, 37, who was allegedly fatally stabbed by her husband at her home at Amelia’s Ward, Mackenzie, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) on May 19, 2017. London’s youngest child is two years old and is reported to have witnessed the killing. London was the sister of popular disc jockey Akelo “DJ Akelo” Elliot.
A blood stained knife suspected to be the murder weapon was reportedly found at the scene. Her body bore multiple stab wounds.
It is unclear what transpired between the couple who resided at the home they shared with the deceased’s mother, as several neighbours reported they did not see or hear anything unusual before they saw the now dead woman running outside.
In a separate case the day before, a 26-year-old teacher attached to the Goed Fortune Secondary School was on Wednesday afternoon found dead in a house at La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara.
According to relatives, Tishaun Bess was last seen by her mother on Monday after she had returned from work. However, the now dead teacher did not show up to the school on Tuesday, as well as Wednesday, which prompted her family to file a Police report.
It was when the family, escorted by Police Officers, visited the home of the deceased that they found her lifeless body hanging from the ceiling. It was reported that she may have been there for approximately two days. The relatives of the deceased indicated that the relationship shared between the woman and her boyfriend was an abusive one. As such, despite the incident initially appearing to be an act of suicide, they speculated that foul play was involved in the death of the teacher.
Furthermore, one family member pointed out that the lover was last seen on Tuesday and only ‘resurfaced’ after Bess’s body was found. As such, the man was taken into Police custody where he remains under investigation.

International practices
Over the years, the United Nations (UN) has been pushing countries towards implementing proactive measures to combat domestic violence.
These measures have included criminalising gender-based violence, massive public awareness campaigns and providing training to equip both men and women to act as first responders and to support victims of the scourge at the community level.
Such programmes have seen their target zones being communities where there is a high level of alcohol abuse. Interactive social media platforms have also been encouraged to play their part in arresting intimate partner violence.
UN Women – a UN entity created specifically for gender equality and empowering women – has also been doing its part with member states. Some of the things it advocates are community mobilisation and educational programmes.
Besides preventative mechanisms, however, some countries have gotten tough on convicted abusers. One such country is Guyana’s neighbour, Brazil, a country with high levels of violence against women. Legislation was made law by former President Dilma Rousseff, altering the criminal code to make crimes involving domestic violence a hate crime. The law saw Brazil’s maximum sentence raised from three years to 30.