How does this Govt. intend to respond to the thriving rape culture?
DEAR EDITOR,
The Stabroek News of Saturday 15 August, 2015 carries a report that the number of reports of Rape is now averaging a little over one a day. Given that rape and other forms of sexual violence are under-reported. The police have indicated that the majority of reports are made about rape of girl children. Rape culture is thriving in Guyana and our children are not immune. The Sexual Offences Act (SOA) of 2010 has a part on Prevention. Section 87 SOA requires that the President should convene an inter-agency National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence, and the section lists who the members should be and the responsibilities of the Task Force. The SOA mandates that the Task Force should be supported by a Sexual Violence Unit in the Ministry of Social Protection. Neither the Task Force nor the Unit seemed to have been functional in the previous administration. The new Government no doubt has many things to fix. Changing rape culture requires intense effort at all levels of the society. The establishment of the National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence would undoubtedly signify the Governmentβs intention to respond to the occurrence of rape and other sexual offences. Vidyaratha Kissoon