– Trinidadian Clinical Psychologist tells Guyanese stakeholders
Local Police Prosecutors, Probation, Welfare and Child Care Officers and civil society groups on Tuesday converged in the conference room at the Pegasus Hotel to discuss the prevalence of and proper courses of action that could be taken to address the rising incidence of domestic abuse in Guyana.
The event, which was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, in collaboration with the Judiciary of Guyana, drew participants from organisations across the country.
Mark Guthrie, a legal and constitutional consultant from the Commonwealth Secretariat, told Guyana Times International that the organisation works in partnership with member countries. He said an invitation from the acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh was sent to the Commonwealth Secretariat for the organisation to hold the seminar.
The colloquium brought together several experts from Turks and Caicos, England, and Trinidad and Tobago to discuss the experiences in domestic violence in Guyana. The seminar got off to a simple start with Justice Singh delivering the welcoming address to the gathering.
The thrust of the day’s seminar was a presentation by Trinidadian Clinical Psychologist, Dr Diane Douglas, who holistically delved “inside the mind of the domestic abuser and victim”.
The doctor’s interactive presentation, while entertaining, was very practical and reached every participant at the individual level. Participants actively shared their experiences and analyses of the issues and formulated recommendations for future practices and reform.
She explained, “Domestic violence constitutes the wilful intimidation, assault, battery, sexual assault or other abusive behaviour perpetrated by one family member against another.” Dr Douglas said the issue of domestic abuse remains an ongoing hitch in the Caribbean, revealing that Guyana stands among the Caricom member states that have the worst examples of domestic violence and stands higher than the global average in violence against women and rape of children.
Dr Douglas called on the Police and Probation Officers to understand the importance of their roles in dealing with abuse, while encouraging them to embrace victims. “What you are guarding is our quality of life and what you are standing in the gap for, is to say that it is possible to live a life free of violence. So you kind of stand up and say, you hold the reins and say it is possible to live in a violence-free society”.
She also reminded representatives of non-governmental organisations of their important role of reaching “the lived experiences of persons who might both be the perpetrator and victim”.
Self-hate
Dr Douglas guided participants through an “understanding yourself” exercise, which, according to her would take effect as one examines the ideologies carried in one’s mind and the behaviour that follows. “You see if we do not understand that we internalise this, we would not understand domestic violence.… a lot of us walk around with that self-hate: when we look in the mirror and we see what we see, we are not very pleased. And if we are not very pleased, how could we do the work of dealing with domestic violence?” she asked participants.
She said any new intervention or law addressing issues relating to domestic violence must be made with the recognition that “the abuser can change, that violence is a choice and that one can control himself”.
Explaining the battered woman syndrome, Dr Douglas pointed out that it is a pattern of psychological behavioural symptoms found in women living in battering relationships. She noted that there is a “typical pattern” developed by all women who live in such relationships. She said psychological traits are developed and are present throughout the woman’s life.
The seminar, which ended on Wednesday, also provided members of the justice sector in Guyana with the opportunity to discuss major issues confronting them in the dispensation of justice in cases of domestic abuse, providing them with a view of strengthening the administration of justice.
The seminar’s aims were also to promote judicial sensitisation of gender issues and the law; create awareness of the incidence of gender-based violence; foster an understanding of the psychology of the abuser and victim, strengthen knowledge of the role of the court in domestic violence cases within the framework of relevant laws and to promote access to justice for victims of domestic abuse.
