Police trained to interact with LGBTQ persons

Marking World Day of Social Justice on Wednesday, Guyana’s Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD Guyana) and Guyana Trans United (GTU) celebrated a milestone in their collaboration with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Public Security Ministry with a closing ceremony of the first phase of training workshops on Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights.

The ceremony was held at the Guyana Police Force’s Officers Training Centre which saw the Manager of the Citizens Security Strengthening Programme at the Public Security Ministry, Clement Henry, delivering the feature address.
He discussed the necessity of this type of training to address pervasive discrimination in Guyana at its core. The first series of the two-day workshops entitled “Gender, Sexuality, and Human Rights” facilitated by SASOD Guyana and GTU began on January 21, 2019, and sensitised 143 officers from all the Divisions across the country.
The training was designed to educate officers on basic human rights and sensitise them to the unique needs of vulnerable populations including gender and sexual minorities. The pre/post-test results from the first phase of the training have shown a marked improvement of the police officers’ knowledge and understanding of diversity issues.
Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Williams, DSM, spoke on behalf of the Commissioner of Police and reiterated the Force’s is commitment to continuous education for the eradication of discrimination and the protection of human rights.
Williams also sees the need for collaborations and trainings for collective progress and endorsed subsequent phases of this collaborative training programme.
He voiced optimism for an inclusive and respectful Police Force and stated that, “there must be no discrimination”.
The Deputy Commissioner told the gathering that the GPF would welcome posters on LGBTQ+ human rights for display at every police station in the country that would remind the officers of their commitments to equality and respect for gender and sexual diversity based on this training intervention.
With ongoing support from the Public Security Ministry and the Guyana Police Force, this training programme will be extended to more members of the GPF on a broader scale in the coming months.
Also in attendance were Lead Training Officer, Senior Superintendent Fizal Karimbash, United Nations Resident Coordinator Mikiko Tanaka, members of the diplomatic corps, public officials, officers of the GPF, civil society representatives and sexual and gender minorities.