The silent war continues

Aug 05, 2025 Editorial, News

Kaieteur News – In homes across Guyana, behind barred windows and bolted doors a silent war continues: intimate partner violence. It remains a national crisis, taking lives, destroying families, and scarring generations. And yet, it is met too often with cultural silence, bureaucratic delay, and public indifference.

This is not merely a private issue it is a public emergency. In 2024 alone, Guyana witnessed a string of brutal murders of women at the hands of their partners. For every woman killed, countless others live in fear, trapped in cycles of coercion, control, and abuse.

Despite years of policy papers, gender training workshops, and international funding, the state response remains weak and reactive. Police officers often lack the sensitivity or training to properly handle domestic violence reports. Courts move slowly. Shelters are few. Support systems for survivors—psychological, financial, or legal—are skeletal at best.

According to the World health Organisation (WHO), 1 in 3 women in the Americas have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Men are more likely to perpetrate violence if they have low education, a history of child maltreatment, exposure to domestic violence against their mothers, harmful use of alcohol, unequal gender norms including attitudes accepting of violence, and a sense of entitlement over women.

Women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence if they have low education, exposure to mothers being abused by a partner, abuse during childhood, and attitudes accepting violence, male privilege, and women’s subordinate status. Situations of conflict, post-conflict and displacement may exacerbate existing violence, such as by intimate partners, as well as and non-partner sexual violence, and may also lead to new forms of violence against women.

Friends, neighbours and communities must be educated about the red flags of domestic problems. When these flags appear, there should be a response. It is unfortunate when neighbours and friends wait too late before they intervene. However, individual responses are never going to be good enough to make a difference. What is needed is a truly national effort to educate the Guyanese people about the dangers of domestic abuse.

A simple quarrel can easily escalate into murder. Thus, interventions need to be made, especially in troubled relationships. In this regard we feel there is an important role for religious and community organizations.

These organisations should be pro-active in seeking out troubled relationships since very often frustration builds up when there is no resort to someone to talk to or someone whose help can be sought to resolve a problem. Counseling is also needed. There is an abject lack of these services in the communities in which they are most needed.

One of the challenges we face in tackling this problem is that too many people still view domestic violence as a “family matter” rather than a criminal one. Too many elders encourage women to “bear it for the children.” Too many communities shame the victim instead of confronting the abuser. And too often, we remember the women only after they are gone, after the TV cameras arrive, after the body is buried. That must change. We need a bold, sustained, multi-pronged national strategy—not just slogans during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This includes: mandatory domestic violence units in every police division, with trained officers; fast-tracked courts for protection orders and IPV-related offenses.

Additionally, there is need for expanded funding for shelters, trauma support, and emergency housing. A national education campaign to address toxic masculinity, healthy relationships, and the dangers of silence. And we need leadership not just from politicians, but from pastors, teachers, influencers, and fathers. Guyana’s women should not have to choose between safety and silence, or between life and loyalty. This is not just about gender it is about justice. About dignity. About the right to live free of fear in your own home.

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Editorial, partner violence, silent war, Women abuse

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