Recent crimes against women in Guyana shocking – GRHA

– as GPSU calls for elimination of gender-based violence

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has labelled as shocking the recent increase and regularity of violent crimes against women in Guyana, with reports of women being killed or facing the brunt of abuse.
This is the position of the GHRA on the commemoration of United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed on November 25 (today).
“Elderly women living alone are targeted in robberies, and younger women and girls in crimes of passion involving deaths, physical and verbal abuse, and extreme brutality by men. A concerted response to violence against women and girls by men must be prioritised over all other forms of criminality,” the GRHA has stated in a release.
According to the rights body, surveys and reports have not yet resulted in collaborative institutional protections to provide the care, support, advice and protection needed by a high percentage of women in Guyana.
“For over two decades, the GHRA, Red Thread and other community-based groups have called for women-focused Police stations staffed by Policewomen trained in domestic violence and sexual offences, where women could be assured of a sensitive hearing by trained staff. While Health and Police services have separately improved their responses to women victims, they fall well-short of the joined-up response required”, the GHRA has said.
The GHRA statement contends that the extent to which victims have to go to prove the validity of accusations of violence is a good indicator of the gulf between need and response, and charges that many women are killed because their complaints to law enforcement officials are not taken seriously.
“If someone claims to be a victim of a robbery, there is an instinctive belief that what they are saying is true. By contrast, women who end up murdered, stalked or badly beaten by males too often have failed to convince the Police when making previous complaints about the individual who eventually killed them…On review, relying on Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and the Guyana Police Force to develop a more thorough victim-oriented approach was misconceived,” the GRHA explained.
The GHRA statement goes on to say that the type of services needed to assist women needs to be massively expanded or multiplied across the country, providing official support services which women need to combat legal and medical challenges.
“Such service centres, if properly resourced, can influence their legal and medical colleagues into best practices, progressively reducing the isolation and autonomy which sustains many outdated and even inhumane practices. In other words, creating a network of safe havens staffed by professionals would focus on the health, welfare and safety of women and girls as a priority. Under current arrangements, too much energy is required simply to resist generations of prejudicial attitudes and institutional inertia.”
The statement also referred to the $1 billion grant that has been made available to Guyana under the UNDP and EU Spotlight programme, and acknowledged that this volume of resources should make the approach sketched out above a realistic goal.
“This grant is sufficient to build capacity in the medical, Police and other services specifically geared to redress violence against women and girls. Forensic health and criminal services are particularly woeful in this area”, the statement charges.

Eliminating gender-based violence
Meanwhile, the Guyana Public Service Union has shared some light on this commemoration, noting that this date came from the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters by political activists in the Dominican Republic on orders of the ruler Rafael Trujillo.
The General Assembly of the United Nations, on 20th December 1993, made a declaration on the elimination of violence against women. Now, the Union said, more should be done to address violence against women, recovery efforts, and gender-based violence.
“The Guyana Public Service Union stands firm with the global movement which is devoted to ending gender-based violence. Everyone has a role to play; beyond that, it is imperative that we, as a Union, and we, as communities, undertake the challenging work of transforming the structures and cultures that allow and encourage sexual harassment and all other forms of gender-based violence to occur,” the GPSU said.
The Union has pledged to continue advocating for stronger institutional changes and thinking; promoting a culture of respect, care and protection; and fostering cohesion in times of despair.
“Domestic violence is prevalent, and saturates our social structures in societies, especially here in Guyana. These are conditions that would drastically affect workers in the world of work, and constitute a human rights violation that (affects every) fundamental protection of rights and dignity that all citizens of this world are entitled to. We will continue to support and fight for this just cause. Not until women and girls can live free of fear and from everyday insecurities can we truly say we live in a fair and equal world.”