Coil : Picketing in the Jubilee week

by Vidyaratha Kissoon

“How long will you be here” the young policeman politely asked. He had a piece of paper and was writing down the contents of the placards

“Until Minister Lawrence is replaced” we told him.

He smiled and said, “no, I mean today, when yall gun be done?.”

Today was the Tuesday in the Jubilee week. There were less than 10 persons picketing the Office of 

the President to replace Minister Volda Lawrence with someone who had the interests of children at heart.

The police usually stand across the road. Their questions are usually What is the picket for? Who are the leaders?

The uniformed police usually write down the text on the picket. Sometimes there are other police, not in Uniform, who might take pictures.

There is always “How come you don’t have a camera to take out pictures?” .

The police , scribbling on the paper, would smile in response.

Cars and people pass. Some take out pictures. Some look vexed at us. Some ignore us. One or two might suck their teeth or make comments in support of the Minister.

On the day of the jubilee week picket, ChildLink hosted a Round table discussion as part of one of their projects to deal with child abuse, especially child sexual abuse. ChildLink has initiated with government agencies to establish Child Advocacy Centres . These centres are expected to make justice more accessible to children who have survived abuse. At the time of the Round Table 

Discussion, it was not clear if the Government of Guyana , through the Ministry of Social Protection would be sustaining the child advocacy centres after November 2016.

Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence had ignored allegations of child sexual abuse made against one of her colleagues in the PNC/R.

ChildLink is one of the NGOs which protested Minister Volda Lawrence’s comments about the child abuse being a ‘family matter’.

The experience with Child Advocacy Centres has highlighted the benefit of inter-agency collaboration, and the exposed gaps in the justice system.

It seems that there are many cases which do not reach the courts because of withdrawal of complaints due to different reasons. The reasons include coercion of witnesses and the fatigue of survivors who want to get on with their lives.

The day of the picket and the Roundtable discussion , the Minister of Social Protection, was launching the float for the Jubilee Parade. The Ministry of Social Protection’s band had a theme of CARICOM Unity – and not social protection. The description of the band did not include child protection. The Ministry it seems is very interested in the lofty pursuit of regional integration. It wasn’t as though the Ministry thought that Guyana could share best practices with Trinidad & Tobago for example, which still allows with child marriage .

Does the Ministry of Social Protection believe more in CARICOM Unity than a Guyana in which every citizen is untied around child protection?

There has been no serious commitment to any agenda to deal with the violation of the rights of children. Citizens might want to advocate for the actions described below before the next emotional occasion to raise the Golden Arrowhead in celebration of nationhood.

Resolve the allegations against Councillor Harding. Restore the Police case file which has gone missing.

The most recent allegation against Minister Lawrence’s colleague was not resolved since the case file went missing. It should be possible now to restore the case file. There should be an independent investigation into the activities of the Childcare and Protection Agency in their efforts to deal with the cases involving the Minister’s colleague. The Minister should not have oversight of the investigations.

Prevent sexual violence against children, and other forms of sexual violence

President Granger should convene the National Task Force for Prevention of Sexual Offences in accordance with Section 87 of the Sexual Offences Act (restated here)

“(1) There shall be established an inter-agency task force to be known as the National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence which shall have the duty to develop and implement a national plan for the prevention of sexual violence.

(2) The President shall appoint the members of the Task Force, which shall include the Ministers of Legal Affairs, Home Affairs, Human Services and Social Security, Amerindian Affairs, Education, Health, Local Government, Youth, Sport and Culture, senior public officers with responsibility for law enforcement, health and human and social services and persons from non-governmental organisations.

(3) The Task Force shall carry out the following activities either directly or by one or more of the constituent ministries as appropriate –

(a) develop and publish within a reasonable time of the coming into force of this Act, a National Plan for the Prevention of Sexual Offences, which shall include the necessary steps to eradicate sexual violence in Guyana;

(b) develop initiatives for prevention of sexual violence;

(c) co-ordinate the implementation of the National Plan;

(d) commission and co-ordinate the collection, publication and sharing of data among government agencies;

(e) establish policies to enable the Government to work with non- governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, community-based organisations and other elements of civil society to prevent sexual violence and provide assistance to victims of sexual violence;

(f) provide guidance to the Sexual Violence Unit;

(g) develop national policy guidelines and protocols for victims of sexual violence and address matters relating to police services, prosecution, medical services, social service, probation service and prison service;

(h) monitor the implementation of this Act, the National Plan and the National Policy Guidelines and protocols;

(i) co-ordinate national education and awareness programmes;

(j) focus special attention on the issues of sexual violence in remote areas, including access to police support and medical attention, court services;

(k) determine the effectiveness of public awareness exercises and measures to be taken to ensure effectiveness;

(l) provide guidance on the development of training programmes specified under section 91;”

The Task Force is to be supported by a Unit within the Ministry which is staffed by persons who will not prioritise party politics above their responsibilities. The agencies must be accountable for their roles in preventing sexual violence.

Stop beating children in schools

In May 2015, the Minister of Education said that ‘Abolishing corporal punishment’ is on the Government’s agenda. Jubilee is over and teachers can still beat children and get away with it. There are no alternatives for teachers and parents. Let us reward the schools and teachers and parents who have stopped beating children. There are many reasons for violence in schools. The President is keen on children attending school, school must be a place for helping to transform our violent culture.

Ensure every child knows to read and write. Ensure every illiterate adult has an incentive and opportunities to learn to read and write.

Illiteracy is a problem in Guyana. Each year, thousands of children ‘fail’ common entrance and many more drop out of secondary school. There is no serious effort to ensure that every child who leaves primary school knows to read and write. There is no serious effort to ensure that every adult who cannot read and write is given an incentive to learn . Each year on International Literacy Day there are some excuses and promises made to deal with the problems of illiteracy.

The list of actions is not exhaustive.

The picket to have a Minister of Social Protection who is more interested in child protection than party politics continues on Tuesday 31 May, 2016 from 12 noon to 1pm.

The work to ensure justice for children continues after citizens lower the flags and discard the 

costumes