Georgetown, Guyana – (February 16, 2019) First Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger, today, commended the Kuru Kururu community for mobilising to take action against domestic violence, after they noted an increase in abusive behaviours over the past year.
The First Lady also said that it is important that women are empowered to get out of abusive relationships, in her address at the forum, which aimed to raise awareness and implement strategies against this scourge in the Kuru Kururu, Linden/Soesdyke Highway community.
Mrs. Granger noted that statistics indicate that while men may suffer domestic abuse, 80 per cent of victims of domestic violence are women, who oftentimes choose to stay in such relationships because of financial obligations. While stressing the need for women to be given the support to regain control of their lives, she noted that domestic violence also has a deleterious impact on children.
“In a family situation the children in that home are also victims of that abuse. They see it, they are sometimes the collateral damage of that violence and they often come to believe that it is a normal thing and continue the cycle of domestic violence,” Mrs. Granger said.
As such, she commended the community for mobilizing its resources to address this matter forthwith.
Community Councillor, Mr. William Ramlall, who founded the group ‘Our Brother’s Keeper’ to spur residents to action said he believed that they could stem the violence through meaningful engagement. “I decided that we, as a community, can take a stand against domestic violence and so I sought to organize an event to have the entire community come on board to address the issue by first starting with awareness and education, because once we are educated on what’s going on we can deal with the situation and promote good mental health,” he said.
Demerara-Mahaica (Region Four) Vice Chairman, Mr. Clement Corlette, Social Worker and Community Pastor, Mr. Randolph Williams also attended the event.
The forum was held in the Kuru Kururu Youth Centre.
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