36 rapes reported in July

Aug 18, 2015 News

The latest police statistics have shown that just within the month of July, 36 reports of rape were made, taking the total up to 243 for the first 7 months of 2015.
And, with this latest update, rapes have surged by 68 percent when compared to the same period in 2014.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) recently released its police statistics, covering from January 1 to July 31, 2015.
Amongst the crimes included by the GPF was rape, which was deemed a serious crime by the law enforcement body.
According to the police, by the end of July there were 243 reports of rape, compared to 145 reports for the same period last year. This represented an increase of 68 percent in the number of rapes.
A similarly high increase was noted last month when the GPF released its first rape statistics for the year. According to the police, at the end of June there were 207 reports compared to 119 for the same period in 2014. This represented a 74 percent increase in the number of reported rapes.
Furthermore, the statistics showed that just within a month, the reports rose from 207 in June to 243 in July, a difference of 36 reports.
These 36 reports represent an increase of 17 percent in rapes in 31 days.
And though the police did not reveal figures in May on reported rapes, it shared that up to May 18, there had been a 70 percent increase in rapes compared to the same period in 2014.
Based on the police reports, July 2015 is the third month in a row where the numbers of reported rapes eclipse those of last year.
Furthermore, with the continuing trend, there has been just over one report of rape on average for the first 7 months (212 days) of 2015.
Reports have indicated the majority of rape reports are coming from Georgetown/East Bank (‘A’ Division) and the East Coast of Demerara (‘C’ Division). Reports further indicate that the majority of the victims are females under 16-years-old, Guyana’s age of consent.
Last month, when questioned on the alarming increase in rape reports, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum had opined that the police force’s sexual offences unit was fuelling the increase. He had explained that with the unit’s introduction, persons felt more comfortable in coming forward to the police with reports of rape. He had said too, that special care was taken to place female investigators within the units to interact with the victims and ensure that they felt comfortable.
For the year so far, only a few persons have been taken before the courts charged with rape. A number of these charges were for the rape of underage girls.
In February, a Better Hope, East Coast Demerara man appeared before the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court charged with the rape of a child under the age of 16 years old. According to court details, the 23-year old man engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. The man had claimed that he did not rape the girl but had had “consensual” sex with her, even though she was under the age of consent. He was placed on $400,000 bail.
Similarly, a La Belle Alliance, Essequibo Coast man was charged in February with a spate of rapes in Essequibo. According to the police, the man had broken into a number of homes and sexually assaulted women who lived alone.
On the other hand, the number of rape matters that make it to the courts is much lower than the number of reported rapes.
A few years ago, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) released its study, “Without Conviction: Sexual Violence Cases in the Guyana Justice Process”. In the 60-page report, the GHRA showed that over the years 2000 to 2004, the average conviction rate was 1.4 percent. This figure represented 9 convictions out of the 647 reports originally made to the police.
Furthermore, in the first year of the study the conviction rate had been 0.9 percent (1:117). For the last year, the report showed that the conviction rate had dropped to 0.6 percent (1:154). Additionally, only 3 percent of the original complaints made it to trial.

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36 rapes reported in July

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