Questions the media must ask of gov’t agencies which are expected to provide services for survivors of domestic violence

Kamanie Narine has shared her story with the media about leaving an abusive relationship. She has done what the Government and others have said to do… ‘Leave’. The story reflects the further abuses which many survivors have to endure after leaving when the State and others are not consistent. The European Union and United Nations are funding a Global Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women. Guyana has been implementing since 2020, and with other donor programmes before then. There has been serious lack of political will to really sustain the work to combat the high tolerance for domestic violence and other forms of gender based violence in Guyana.

The Guyana Police Force has been receiving training on domestic violence since 1994 (“Promoting Women’s Rights in Guyana: An Uphill Task” Janice M Jackson, October 1994 available at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00088144/00001) The Ministry of Human Services and Guyana Police Force and UNFPA have #COPSQUAD. Yet in February 2022, it seems Fort Wellington Police Station has erased the hashtag and destroyed the orange balloons. Shouldn’t the Guyana Police Force be investigating why Fort Wellington Police Station did not adhere to #COPSQUAD when dealing with the report from Kamanie Narine? Should the Spotlight Initiative focus on Fort Wellington to actually see what is needed there for them to implement the training which they would have received? Shouldn’t the media find out what is happening at Fort Wellington Police Station?

Guyana’s justice system with its sprawling network of jurisdictions mean that Kamanie Narine has to venture from the place of safety, spend her money, go on her own, to the court which is to deliver justice. Surely by now, after Covid-19, and the oil and gas prosperity, there could be protocols in place so that survivors do not have to be physically in court? And that the Ministry of Human Services and Attorney General and the Supreme Court should have protocols and mechanisms in place to allow the credible connections needed? And shouldn’t the man who has been out on bail also be referred to some custodial care for the protection of himself and others since we know that there is a high risk when men who are reported can harm themselves or others? The report notes that a “welfare officer” helped with making the first report, but it is clear that there is more work needed to navigate, to follow up while living in fear - because this year at least two men have killed the women who reported them.

The toll on physical health and mental health on survivors is known. Yet, as the medical industry prospers in Guyana, seemingly at the expense of modern services in the public health sector, it seems that the scans and other treatment have to be paid for by survivors. Isn’t the Ministry of Health on board with providing the medical assistance for survivors who have to leave everything behind and start over? In addition to telling the survivors’ stories, the media as part of the accountability responsibility must also be asking questions of the Government agencies especially who are expected to provide the services for survivors of domestic violence and other forms of gender based violence.