Domestic violence in Guyana is widespread and crosses racial and

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

lines. The law prohibits domestic violence, gives women the right to seek prompt protection, and allows victims to seek protection, occupation, or

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orders from a

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. Penalties for violation of protection orders include fines up to 54 (G$10,000) and 12 months' imprisonment; however, this legislation frequently is not enforced.Report on Human Rights Practices 2006: Guyana

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(March 6, 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

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.'' The government uses laws and policies against domestic violence with some measure of success; the problems lie with the failure of those responsible for implementation. Magistrates and magistrate court staff are often insensitive to the problem of domestic violence and to their roles in ensuring implementation of the law. In addition, not all

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s fully understand provisions of the law.

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

report a widespread perception that some police officers and magistrates could be bribed to make cases of domestic violence "go away." The government also does not

prosecute A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tr ...

cases in which the alleged victim or victim's family agreed to drop the case in exchange for a monetary payment

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. NGOs assert the need for a specialized Family Court. Domestic violence is a problem in all regions of the country. Enforcement of the domestic violence laws is especially weak in the interior, where police do not have as strong a presence and courts meet only once a quarter. Between January and September 2006, Help and Shelter handled 414 abuse cases, including child, spousal, nonspousal, and other domestic abuse; 297 of the cases involved spousal abuse directed against women. Help and Shelter, which received private donor and some government funding, ran a free shelter for victims of domestic violence and operated a hotline to counsel victims. NGOs run

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s and train police officers, teachers, nurses, agricultural workers, religious groups, and

health clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

s to sensitize them to domestic violence. Domestic violence training is part of the curriculum of the Police Training College. There is a Task Force on Violence against Women whose membership includes representatives from NGOs, law enforcement, the health community, and youth. The Task Force has gathered data in preparation for drafting a national policy on domestic violence.

References

{{Domestic violence Guyana Crime in Guyana by type Women's rights in Guyana

See also

References