Online abuse reporting system launched

Jan 20, 2018 News

Ms. Akola Thompson

Report Abuse Guyana [www.reportabusegy.com] is a new website that has been introduced to allow persons to report incidents of abuse. Although the website is one that was initially intended to allow for anonymous reporting – since some persons making reports would rather remain behind the scenes – one of the engineers behind the initiative, says the legal aspect of it all did not permit for this.

Speaking to media operatives yesterday, Ms. Akola Thompson, who was present at a forum hosted by Caribbean Voice, an NGO which promotes anti-violence measures, said that moves were instead made to create an online reporting system.

“The purpose of the site is to give victims the space that they can report crimes [against them]. When you go on the website there is a very short form where your name is required because the Guyana Police Force, they do not deal with anonymous reports…If you want to seek charges then your name is required,” Thompson noted.

Thompson said that once the form has been submitted, a group of civil society persons are then tasked with filtering the information to the relevant authorities. In the case of children, Thompson said that the information is sent to the Childcare and Protection Agency, while in the case of adults, the information is sent to the Guyana Police Force.

The initiative, Thompson said, is one that draws from the expertise of persons who have had experience with dealing with such situations complete with confidentiality. As such, she assured that the site is monitored by persons who documented experience and follow certain tactics to ensure that victim information remains safe.

“We work solely with civil society such as Red Thread and Help and Shelter…these are two organisations that are already on board, and we are looking to invite more,” said Thompson. She however observed that “there aren’t really a lot of organisations that have the necessary way of dealing with victim information, so we have very limited organisations…”

However, there still remains a need for court support services, and according to Thompson, “we are still looking to provide as part of the platform, group support services, because even when reports are made, a lot of them don’t actually reach the court system…that is due to several reasons.”

For this reason, Thompson noted that having persons in place to see victims through the process is a necessary step in ensuring that justice is realised.

Also as part of the platform, Thompson said that moves have been made to establish a network of counsellors. In fact, according to her, “when you go on the platform, you can choose an option whether you want it to go to the police or if you want to just gain counselling, or if you just want to share your story, those are options that are available.”

Thompson also made it clear yesterday that the platform is open to everyone, with absolutely no discrimination. “It does not matter what is your race, your sexuality, your religion; once you report a crime it will be handled,” Thompson added.

The website was launched last November and although it has not yet been extensively publicised, one person has already utilised it. That report has already allowed for one person to received counselling services. “We are really not trying to push PR for it, so not a lot of persons are aware that it exists,” said Thompson.

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