TIP victims, GWMO members support Broomes

Aug 28, 2013 News

By Keeran Danny
Trafficking In Persons (TIP) victims rescued from sexual slavery thanks to selfless work of the Guyana Women Miners’ Organization (GWMO) have come out in support of Simona Broomes, who has been accused of assaulting a woman remanded for human trafficking.
Broomes, President of GWMO, was questioned on Monday at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters, Eve Leary, in connection with an allegation that she assaulted a Bartica businesswoman

Some members of the GWMO

whilst rescuing four young women from the sex trade. The girls were involved in the sex trade in Tiger Creek and the confrontation occurred in Puruni at the Mines Office.
Broomes was detained for about four hours before being released on $10,000 station bail and was instructed to return to Eve Leary on September 6. Surrounded by members of the GWMO and TIP victims, Broomes was back at her desk arranging to make more trips into Guyana’s “gold bush”.
One of the victims, who fell prey to Broomes’ accuser, said she is thankful to Broomes (who she fondly calls mom) for saving her from the interior, and is saddened to learn of the accusation.
“The same woman who seh mom beat she up, she is the same person who take me in the interior. I went through real hardship deh. I was forced to have sex with men and I thank God for mom. I don’t want her to go to jail…Who will help the other girls I leave in deh,” she said.
Another victim, who was merely 13 years old when she was trafficked, recalled the day she was rescued from Tiger Creek by the GWMO. It was during this rescue mission that Broomes was confronted by the businesswoman and her husband about an hour away at Puruni.
The teenager said she was in the GWMO vehicle during the ordeal. In good spirit, she said “I wasn’t too scared because I know I in the vehicle and the women wouldn’t let nothing happen to me”. When asked if she heard any gunshots she said no, but recalled loud talking.
Members of the GWMO, including those from Bartica, were upset with this unfortunate turn in events. They are suspicious that “the accuser is not acting by herself and is being supported by someone or persons with power”.
In relation to the accuser’s allegation that Broomes stole her six-ounce gold chain, members find this an unlikely situation, owing to Broomes’s character and the thickness of such a chain.
According to one member, the woman needs to provide a receipt to show she possessed such a chain. “And, everyone involved in the gold business knows that a six-ounce chain would be a dog collar and that would be so thick to burst that you could possibly break a person’s neck. So I don’t know what this woman really talking about. But I believe somebody shining her to shut us up,” the woman said.
The member questioned why the accuser did not lodge a complaint against Broomes in April, as Broomes had done against her.
Meanwhile, Broomes said she heard about this accusation several weeks ago, but never realized it would have materialized. She said a friend in Bartica who owns a shop overheard a conversation between a man affiliated with a political party and the businesswoman.
“The person called me and told me that this man (name given) and the woman plotting to say you beat her up and thief gold from her. And she mustn’t worry he gon work out everything,” Broomes said.
Broomes said she feels privileged that young ladies, whom she rescued, remember her and could be by her side. She is thankful that they came to comfort her and looking at their lives now is inspiring her to move ahead.
The Director of Public Prosecutions’ office has not yet received a file from the police in relation to the allegations leveled against Broomes.