Rape accounts for two thirds of cases in Demerara Supreme Court

Oct 04, 2020 News

Kaieteur News – According a notice printed on Saturday in one of the daily newspapers, there are close to 250 rape cases up for trial at the Demerara Supreme Court.
The numbers of rape cases account for two-thirds of all the cases set to be heard in the courts starting October 6, 2020.
On the notice, there are 370 cases to be heard, ranging from murder trials, attempts to commit murder, manslaughter, wounding cases, trafficking, abduction and cases of rape, buggery, and sexual activity with a minor/family member.
In December of 2019, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had reported that Guyana had recorded 4,562 cases of sexual assault and rape. Alarmingly, the GPF further reported that less than quarter of the victims received justice.
The GPF’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), through the Bureau of Statistics had revealed in their report that the lowest number of sexual assault cases reported in the last 28 years dates back to 1990 with a total of 82.
There has been a significant increase as the year 2015 saw 321 cases throughout the country. This is the highest number investigators had to deal with in almost three decades.
What is alarming is that Guyana’s Sexual Offences Act is among the most impressive in the Caribbean, yet there has not been a great deal of work towards the implementation of key mechanisms provided for, to support the law.
This shortcoming was highlighted by attorney-at-law and former Human Services Minister, and now the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, last year.
During an interview with Kaieteur News, Manickchand emphasized the reluctance by the current administration to put systems in place. She had said that government’s lack of action has largely hampered the legal enforcement in the fight against sexual violence.
The former Minister was specifically questioned about the implementation of the Sexual Offences Act which was brought on stream in 2010. She had indicated that the government undoubtedly has a key role to play, in this regard.
Manickchand pointed to the lack of execution of mechanisms like the sexual assault referral centres which are provided for in the Act. She noted that not having this key component has far-reaching effects on the effectiveness of the law.
Manickchand believes that it is among the more glaring missteps by the government.
“So we don’t have a legislative problem, we have an enforcement problem. The government has to pass the laws, but they also have to follow-up and put the systems in place to complement those laws,” the former Minister asserted.

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