National discussion on domestic violence needed – W&GEC

…calls on Govt to lead the way

while the issue of domestic violence continues to rear its head in society, drastically changing the lives of women and their families, the Women and Gender Equality Commission (W&GEC) said that there was need, now more than ever before, for stringent measures be taken to help save women’s lives.

And while the solution could not be found in any one entity, Government has been urged to take leadership in this regard.

The Commission is once again calling for a national discussion – something that has already occurred in the past, but produced few tangible results.

The situation seems to have become a normal part of society, while little is being done to address it from the root. It has raised questions about Government’s plan of action for these cases, which are more often than not swept under the carpet.

W&GEC Head Indra Chandarpaul, speaking to Guyana Times on Monday, said the Commission has made numerous recommendations both to the previous and current Administrations, yet nothing much has been forthcoming. These recommendations were made to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, along with the Chancellor and other lawyers.

“We have spoken to then Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence and we have said that the dilemma we are faced in our country is that when things are happening in the relationship, they have no one to turn to and unless Government can provide a medium which when people’s relationships are turning sour, there is somewhere they can go and get some help… Because at the end of the day, relationships will always have problems, but the resolution of these matters is the issue, because there is no institution and entities to facilitate these people who are faced with these problems,” Chandarpaul said.

“So we only hear when they kill each other; when they do things as you are referring to, which cannot be condone. As we talk about it, we keep hearing that more and more women are violated.”

She said “we have to take a stand as a country”, noting that she has been making this call since the new Government came into power, discussing the need to set up counselling centres where people who are affected by interpersonal relations can have somewhere they can go to seek help.

“Because this is not only the job for the Government, but for everyone – civil society, faith-based organisations, Government, everyone must get involved,” the women’s right activist said.

She noted, however, that Government must be able to bring the population on board, acknowledging that there was a national problem, inviting everyone to come together to find some solutions to domestic violence.

“It can’t be the Government alone; it can’t be civil society alone: it has to be that somebody must take leadership and it must be the Government in this regard.”

According to Chandarpaul, the W&GEC has been doing its best to educate persons, completing its access to justice programme and lending an ear to the views of the people, particularly those who have been affected. But at the end of the day, she said the Commission was not designed to implement, it could only make recommendations and initiate actions.

Last Thursday, Shondell Williamson, 26, of Peter D’Aguiar Street, New Amsterdam, was doused with acid by the father of her two children, Alfred D’Yonge.

This newspaper was told that the couple shared an abusive relationship for several years, and it was only recently that they separated. D’Yonge and Williamson have two children together, ages three and nine.

Williamson’s case is the latest in a slew that has taken the country by storm.