Judiciary hosts domestic violence workshop

Mar 19, 2014 News

The Judiciary, through its Chancellor, Carl Singh, has upped the ante against domestic violence, noting that more must be done to avoid such cases. So committed is the Judiciary that they have facilitated a two-day workshop with the Supreme Court in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat. The seminar focused mainly on Domestic Violence and ways to curb it.
Yesterday’s seminar attracted several city Magistrates including the Chief Magistrate Mrs. Priya Beharry, along with Deputy Commissioner Seelall Persaud and Divisional Commander George Vyphuis. Also in attendance were several police prosecutors.
Chancellor Singh in his address to the gathering said that domestic violence has become a “stomach-churning experience” to read in the local newspapers. According to Singh the entire issue is horrifying, appalling and are at an alarming level.
“In 2013 Guyana recorded 29 deaths from domestic violence of which 21 included women and girls” Singh noted.
The Chancellor stressed that incidents of domestic violence damage the prospects of social and economic development for Guyana.
“It must be seen as a critical human rights issue, since it impacts on victims’ right to life and security,” Singh said. He said that in order to eliminate it the role of central government cannot be ignored.
Chancellor Singh said that they cannot only outline policies and programmes, but it’s the implementation coupled with meaningful interventions that would make the difference.
Meanwhile, Justice Shamin Qureshi, Director of Programmes for Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, stressed that every death is one too many, but deaths in Guyana are not as high as in other parts of the world like Russia.
He said that in 2009 Commonwealth countries met in Port of Spain and reaffirmed values in domestic violence. Qureshi said that the issue at hand deals with equality, access, right to a fair trial and judicial independence.
“It can be prevented and has to be eradicated at all cost ….it is no longer a private family issue, it is a public issue” Qureshi posited.
Presentations were also made by Red Thread’s Karen De Souza. De Souza who was recently awarded for her role in highlighting domestic violence in Guyana, addressed the issue of instances where the police failed the victims.
De Souza gave examples of several cases where the Police, Court or simply Social Workers failed the victims of domestic abuse. According to her, the legislation provides for quick remedies, but she argued that it is not instituted, in some cases, by the justice system.
De Souza made the case that the absence of equality is the cause for many of the incidents.
“The institutional support mechanism also peddles inequality, telling women that the man is head of the home or that they must stay and try to make the relationship work.”
The two-day seminar aims to provide judicial workers in Guyana with an opportunity to discuss the major issues in domestic violence. The facilitators include Dr. Dianne Douglas, Clinical Psychologist, Trinidad and Tobago; and Ms. Karen DeSouza of Red Thread, Guyana, Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale of the Turks and Caicos Islands; Mr. Mark Guthrie, Legal Advisor, Justice Section, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, UK.

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Judiciary hosts domestic violence workshop

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