Manickchand calls for ongoing national conversation on sexual violence

The ongoing Ministry of Human Services’ consultations on sexual violence should be seen as the start of a national conversation, which should continue even after the Act is passed, Minister Priya Manickchand said yesterday.

The Government Informa-tion Agency (GINA), in a press release, stated that the ministry’s consultation at the Guyana International Confer-ence Centre, Liliendaal yesterday attracted the largest gathering of over 250 persons from about 40 organizations. The participants made recommendations on the sexual violence paper ‘Stamp it out’ during the session.

 

Presentations were made by Manickchand, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.

The consultation coincided with observances to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which will be observed tomorrow. The release said Manickchand, in her presentation, noted,

“Government alone cannot do enough to end the violence, every citizen should join in the battle”.

According to the release the minister said there is a need for a change in attitude by the service providers for the legislation to have the desired results.

 

The need for society to change its attitude towards victims of sexual violence was one aspect noted during the meetings, the minister said, since some persons still seem to share the view that victims can cause these acts to be committed on them.

Meanwhile, PM Hinds noting that there seems to be an increase in acts of violence especially against women and girls, especially very young girls, called for a change in society.

Hinds added that the government is working to put women and men on equal footing as it tries to promote harmony in relationships. He commended the minister and her staff for the work they have done so far.

Ali-Hack in her remarks stated that women today are the victims of every conceivable type of violence and that “the increase in the use of narcotics is causing people to give into their vices; these often result in violence against women”. She said these acts include rape, sodomy and murder.

 

The DPP stated that the current legislation, which has been in place for over 100 years, needs to be amended to deal with these criminal acts.

With reference to the culture of not reporting these crimes, Ali-Hack was quoted as saying, “We have a new Domestic Violence Act but it is not being sufficiently used by the victims. They need to use the orders, and the Legal Aid Clinic can assist with this.”

While noting that 50 percent of the cases listed at each High Court sitting are for sexual violence, the DPP acknowledged the slow court system as a causative factor for persons not continuing with cases.

She applauded the minister’s move to amend the committal procedure which will reduce the trial time for these cases.

 

The DPP shared the view that amending the law is not enough; the trial procedure needs to be friendlier to the victim, GINA stated.

The release said that after the presentations, participants sub divided into working groups to discuss the proposed changes and to submit a report on their recommendations.

 

 

 

 

 

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Mission Possible

This week, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has been able to present the kind of ‘feel good’ news that is so scarce today. Not only has the ministry quietly begun its ‘Mission Child Protection’ campaign, but also in just three days of starting it, officers had managed to rescue 37 children from the streets. Of course, rescuing them is just the beginning of the uphill task ahead, which ultimately, one hopes, would see them never returning to the streets. However, having read the plan as outlined by Minister Priya Manickchand and her officers in a report in this newspaper on Tuesday, one gets the good feeling that they have considered this and there is a plan B.

‘Mission Child Protection’, much like the operation that had seen the same ministry under Ms Manickchand’s predecessor undertake to get aged street people into the Night Shelter, involves officers trawling the areas where street children are known to be. The officers were able to pick up 37 children ranging in ages from four years old to 15 years old, with no resistance from any of them, and take them to a home, which had previously been set up specifically for this purpose. This speaks volumes. The first thing that is obvious is that these children wanted to be rescued, and this shatters the common perception about street children. It also bodes well for the success of the programme, notwithstanding the fact that once they are taken off the streets, parents and guardians must also take some responsibility for keeping their children off the streets. The second observation is the stark reality of just how vulnerable these children really are.

 

This brings to mind something else the minister raised at her press conference. She reported that two parents had gone on television and protested that their children were being removed from the streets because of Cricket World Cup (CWC). Could it get any worse? Can these parents say why their children were on the streets in the first place, since they obviously have such caring parents? Shame on them. Parents who knowingly expose their children to the evils of living and begging and roaming the streets daily should be arrested.

Ms Manickchand then went on to say that some of her officers had warned that ‘Mission Child Protection’ might be misconstrued as an effort to get the children off the streets before the expected CWC visitors began to arrive and had suggested putting it on hold. The minister quite rightfully overruled this. The important thing about protecting children is not about waiting for the right time to start. In fact, the right time is as soon as they are born and failing that as soon as possible after, because the older children are, the more difficult it is to reach them. The crucial thing about ‘Mission Child Protection’ is not when it started but that it continues.

And it must continue. Poverty, lack of pride, poor values and perhaps avarice, among other things, force children out onto the streets and keep them there. Since there is no indication that any of these are going away anytime soon, ‘Mission Child Protection’ must become ‘Mission Possible’ and for as long as it takes.

The street children phenomenon is a fairly new one. Older folks will remember the days when there was no such thing as street children. People were poor, yes, but their pride prevented them from sending their children out to beg, or taking them out with them with the aim of evoking pity in a potential donor. Or perhaps, it was because in those days the wealthy were more unobtrusive; there was no blatant flaunting of money as is seen today among the nouveau riche. Whichever it is, this new initiative is one that Guyana has desperately needed for some time now. The ministry has wisely increased its staff as it will need to continue to monitor the children who have been returned to their parents and it has said that the parents will receive counselling and financial assistance where necessary. ‘Mission Child Protection’ is by no means an easy road, there are countless bends and twists that will no doubt begin to reveal themselves as the journey continues and those manning the programme must be well prepared for this. However, it will also bring rewards, the highest of which will be that it changes children’s lives.

 

SOURCE: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2007/news/stories/03/17/mission-possible/

The Manickchand Initiative

A mere four days after the desperado Anthony ‘Kussum’ Charles of Bare Root was shot dead by members of the Police Force and Defence Force in Bachelor’s Adventure Village about 22 km from Georgetown, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand visited that ill-starred settlement.

Bare Root could be a dangerous place. Next to Agricola and Buxton, it is one of the most notorious nests of crime which residents readily admit is frequented by bad men. Charles, a wanted man, was suspected of involvement in several brutal murders and other crimes, when law enforcement patrols cornered and killed him. But this was not an isolated incident. In March 2004, for example, the skeletal remains of an unidentified man with a bullet hole in the skull were found in a canefield near Bare Root. On other occasions, hijacked vehicles were abandoned and the settlement became a sanctuary for criminals.

By taking the initiative to go to the village to speak rather than shoot, Ms Manickchand did what many of her colleagues responsible for public safety, public health and public utilities have not dared to do. In fact, a distinguishing feature of the wave of criminal violence on the East Coast and East Bank Demerara over the past four and a half years has been the apparent abandonment of the good residents to the depredations of criminal gangs and the avoidance of direct contact by both the central and local government.

In the recent past, also, ministers seem to have chosen carefully which communities they should visit and with which victims of violence they should commiserate during times of distress. Problems ignored, however, will not solve themselves and communities neglected cannot be expected to prosper. The conditions that breed crime, and the effects of crime on the community and its children, will remain for years unless there is some action by the residents themselves with the support of the Government to create a sturdy social infrastructure and community security system.

It was President Bharrat Jagdeo who pledged to “work with communities and vulnerable groups that are preyed upon by the criminal enterprise in their recruitment drive to provide them with support and other options.” It was Minister Manickchand who seems to have taken up that challenge and showed the resolve to meet residents although she does not have the resources to meet their needs.

Much of what she heard and saw was not new. Last July, a group of frustrated Bare Root residents, representing the settlement’s 400 households, complained to this newspaper about their daily difficulties and of the unfulfilled promises of the previous Minister of Housing and Water to provide water and electricity.

Trying to sound cheery, Ms Manickchand told residents to take pride in the success of one of Bare Root’s sons, Donovan Sullivan, who excelled at the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (SSEE), securing a place at the President’s College. Sullivan’s success, she suggested, shows what can happen when young people are given an equal opportunity to excel and realise their full potential.

A solitary visit by a single minister to this wretched settlement cannot remove the root causes of backwardness and crime. It can, however, encourage residents to expect equal access to the common resources of the state. The quality of life can be measurably improved were other ministers to emulate Ms Manickchand’s initiative.

 

Source: http://www.landofsixpeoples.com/gytodaysixelevenjs.htm

Credit: Stabroek News