Over half of women here have endured intimate partner violence in their lifetime - survey

More than half of Guyana’s women (55%) have experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, according to the first comprehensive national survey on genderbased violence in Guyana.

“Physical violence was reported more commonly than sexual violence (35 per cent vs 9 per cent lifetime; 14 per cent vs 4 per cent current), which may be in part due to a reluctance to disclose sexual violence outside of a trusting relationship. Emotional violence, typically the most common dimension of IPV, was reported by 40 per cent of respondents over their lifetimes and 17 per cent over the past 12 months,” the survey said.

The survey was released yesterday at a public forum convened at Cara Lodge and most of the speakers, inclusive of Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally and Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Lilian Chatterjee agreed that the survey is not only timely but one that is needed to ensure the country’s response to violence against women can be more strategic.

In Guyana violence against women continues to be on the rise and for this year alone some nine women have been killed by an intimate partner.

In light of the findings the survey recommended that Guyana adopt evidence-based programmes that have been shown to be successful in other areas to the multicultural Guyanese context.

Titled the Guyana Women’s Health and Life Experiences Survey (WHLES) it was conducted using the CARICOM model, a measurement adapted from the original WHO (World Health Organization) global model for assessing the prevalence of violence against women in the Caribbean. The survey captures information on the risk of and consequences of violence for women, their children and families and how and to what extent they seek help.

Other findings of the report include that 1 in 5 (or 20 per cent of) women in Guyana have experienced non-partner sexual abuse in their lifetime; 13% reported experiencing this abuse before the age of 18. Meantime it was stated that being young is the most significant risk factor for nonpartner sexual violence (NPSV), including rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching and sexual harassment while the 1524 age group reported statistically higher rates of NPSV of every type (the 55–64 age group reported the least).