- Guyanese Govt to table new legislation to deal with domestic violence
The Guyanese government says it would introduce in Parliament this year a modern and comprehensive Family abuse Bill that will address all aspects of abuse and will replace the present Domestic Violence Act.
Dr Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, stated that the Family Violence Bill is now finalised, adding that the proposed legislation has benefited from widespread input from civil society and stakeholders in the goal of providing better coverage for victims through the law.
“It is a bill that provides extensive coverage, whereas the Domestic Violence Act previously dealt with more interpersonal violence.” “This gives people more recourse to the law if there is any kind of violence in the family,” she said, adding that the legislation will also permit stronger punitive measures and the elimination of discretionary powers from police to guarantee action is taken.
“There will be no discretion in terms of when they act, but once there is visible evidence of bodily harm, they must take the report,” Persaud said, adding that the harassment bill’s draft will be finished this year. The legislation is intended to address general harassment, particularly in the workplace.
Similarly, the government intends to introduce measures this year concerning child protection and childcare. These include child abduction and child maintenance in accordance with the Hague Convention.
“We need real protection to be provided to these women, we need them to understand what the law does for them, we need them to understand what a protection order is, and we need the perpetrators also to understand what it means to flunk the protection order,” she said in a statement.
The government has stated that the various bills will be made available on the ministry’s website to ensure Guyanese are aware with them.
