New legislation to increase criminal & civil remedies to violence – Dr Persaud

To tackle the upsurge of femicide in Guyana, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud said authorities are focused on creating a modern and progressive legal framework.

To this end, she said two pieces of legislation, the Family Violence Act and the Sexual Offences Act, are new legal remedies.

When combined they bring both criminal and civil solutions.

“We have been crafting not only legislation that will impact the population tangibly and, more importantly, the vulnerable population in Guyana but also creating a modern and progressive framework,” Dr Persaud said.

She was at the time delivering remarks at the close-out workshop for the Support for the Criminal Justice System Programme held at the Pegasus Corporate Suites, Kingston on Friday.

The Family Violence Act, according to Dr Persaud, is a “groundbreaking” piece of legislation which provides both criminal and civil remedies.

This, she said, is needed in light of the upsurge of cases of violence, especially against women.

For 2024, there was a 33 per cent reduction in cases of domestic violence.

In terms of the Sexual Offences Act, Dr Persaud said the legislation is being reviewed. It includes key elements, one of which speaks to the sex offenders registry.

In addition to this, Dr Persaud said there is also the Hope and Justice centers which provide holistic services needed by victims while police ranks are being trained.

These centers intend to provide all services available to anyone who has experienced violence of any kind.

“So from the time a person walks in they are greeted and they are able to make a report in an environment very different from a police station.

“But at the same time, our police are undergoing transformation, there are rooms specially dedicated to that in the police stations and the ministry…Currently are embarking on a powerful programme where we are going from police stations to police stations and training police ranks at every level on the Family Violence Act and the Child Protection Act,” Dr Persaud explained.