As the team prepares for community engagements, we paid a courtesy call on the district office of the region and the Guyana Police Force subdivision 3 of Region 1 Officer In Charge Inspector Puran Narine.
The Inspector gave deep insight into the Gender-Based Violence, Gender Relations, Xenophobia, and Domestic Violence prevalence and actions taken to address them in the sub-division.
He shared some specifics such as the high prevalence of substance abuse, grooming, and reported cases of sexual assault and matters stemming from these.
On a positive note since the start of his tenure as the officer in charge in the sub-division, he shared the partnership with NCC’s member NGO Blossom Inc. There has been a significant reduction of backlogged cases 67 in total and statistics now show a reduction of the domestic violence rate to 6% and the overall crime rate which is prevalent in the age range of 14-17 reduced to 3%.
The NCC has offered to partner with the Inspector and team in the subdivision to provide GBV Awareness and prevention training which has already been conducted in two other regions. The Inspector extended the services of the force to the team as we continue our week-long five-village community engagement.
These programs are supported by IDB Lab , Local Engagement and Action Fund – LEAF and High Commission of Canada to Guyana and Suriname