PRESS RELEASE: Allegation of Sexual Violence Committed on a Sixteen Year Old Amerindian School Girl.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) views with much concern a serious allegation of sexual violence committed on a sixteen year old Amerindian school girl leveled against a sitting Minister of Government and Member of the National Assembly. The GPSU commends Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Human Services and Social Security in her call for a thorough investigation into the matter, stating that “Our women and girls must be safe and no one is above the law” (Stabroek News of June 18, 2023).

In light of the alarming rate of sexual violence against women and girls, Public Administrators are with duty to conduct their affairs with the highest form of decorum and discipline.

A scintilla of evidence is the threshold for the removal of such officials from office in the interest of public trust and confidence. There is no need for a sufficiency of evidence- i.e, mere inappropriate contact with the teenager outside the Minister’s functional mandate is enough for his removal from public office.

Further, it is absolutely unacceptable, a flagrant violation of the Sexual Offences Act, 2010 (as amended) and a direct affront to the rule of law for any Government Official or any other person outside the Sexual Violence Unit of the Guyana Police Force to establish contact with this child who is in need of Protection as is the intention of the Protection of Children Act.

The Child Care and Protection Agency Act, 2009 similarly makes no provision for investigation by the Child Care and Protection Agency or anyone outside the remit of the Guyana Police Force under the circumstances of this case. The retraumatization of survivors of sexual crimes is a criminal offence under the Laws of Guyana. In fact, amendments to the Sexual Offences Act introduced a paper committal process whereby survivors of sexual violence are protected from the unnecessary burden of repeating the horror of their bodies being violated in the most inhumane form.

It is unacceptable and unlawful for a peer review to be conducted into these allegations by the Ministerial colleagues of the subject Minister. It is of fundamental public importance that justice must not only be done, but it must be seen to be done.

In accepting €4.5m from the European Union to end gender base violence, His Excellency President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, is quoted as saying, “Guyana’s approach to gender-based violence is deeply embedded in ensuring compliance with the country’s domestic laws and fulfilling international obligations.”- Guyana Chronicle, November 2, 2020.

The GPSU is also calling on His Excellency the President, to act without undue delay by showing commitment to ending gender base violence by ratifying and incorporating International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 190 and its Recommendation 206 to protect our women and girls. Additionally, in the context of the present investigation, His Excellency should act in keeping with rules of procedure to ensure a professional investigation is conducted to preserve and protect all evidence for the sole determination by a Judge and Jury and not his Ministers and the functionaries operating under them.

It is our Constitutional mandate as citizens of this great country to value the special place in our nation of our indigenous peoples and recognise their rights as citizens to security, equal protection under law and their individual pursuit of happiness. The Union is also calling on the investigators to report forthwith any form of intimidation, bullyism or victimization experience during the investigations.