Speak out against gender-based violence
-First Lady appeals to citizens
First Lady, Sandra Granger on Saturday appealed to citizens to speak out against gender-based violence.
She was speaking at the closing of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), hosted by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Guyana, at its office at Sendall Place, Georgetown, according to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency.
Delivering an address to the attendees, Mrs. Granger, said that women and girls continue to be victims of physical and psychological violence in society and that early education on GBV will create a better understanding of the irreversible damage caused by this type of abuse. She also called on Guyanese to speak out when witnessing this type of violence.
“We must speak out when onlookers express amusement when a woman or girl is being beaten by a partner… We must make our voices heard when anyone is being ridiculed and demeaned. We must demand that our laws be enforced when our girls are trafficked and treated as commodities in the most vulgar way,” Mrs. Granger said.
Ambassador of the Delegation of the EU to Guyana, Jernej Videtic, in his remarks, said that it is important that society defends the rights of people. “This year the European Union joins the United
Nations in calling upon people to stand up for someone’s rights… That is the theme for this year’s Human Rights Day; ‘Stand up for someone’s rights’… Each of us has an individual responsibility to stand up for his rights,” he said, according to the release.
Manager of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit at the Ministry of Social Protection, Akeelo Doris said that the Ministry continues to offer counselling services to victims of any form of violence and that the Ministry has recently established a Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit aimed at tackling GBV.