Gender-Based Violence Still a Concern Despite Ongoing Interventions

Gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be a significant concern in Belize, despite ongoing efforts from various sectors to curb the issue. While progress may not always be visible to the public, behind the scenes, dedicated individuals and organizations are working to address and reduce violence against women and vulnerable populations. Love News spoke with the Minister of Human Development, Families and Gender Affairs, Thea Garcia-Ramirez, who acknowledged the frustration that often comes with not seeing immediate change. However, she emphasized that the absence of visible results does not equate to a lack of action.

Thea Garcia, Minister of Human Development: “When it comes to violence against women it’s always been there. It’s escalated to where it’s not only violence but we see homicide. One of the things that we  have noticed is that femicide is not described within our laws, doesn’t  carry harsher penalties. So it’s something perhaps that we would need to revisit. I think that the prevalence of crime and as it is is against women is certainly being reported more. Even we have two kinds of reports, those that are for immediate police action and those that are referred to as for reference or people would then have a chance to come back and say we want to take it to court and have police action.  So you could take it both ways. You could say that we are just reporting more or you could also say that it is more prevalent. I was asked a few days ago, and what are we going to do about it? Well,  what we’re doing now and what we’ve done these last four years, even at the commission level, at the ministry level, won’t be felt for another five to ten years. Whenever you’re working with people, whenever you’re working human development issues it’s not something that if we implement something today you will feel the benefits of that program today. And probably what we’re seeing now is where there was not much investment ten years ago. So when we’re talking about young people, because you’re seeing more young, younger and younger people being perpetrators of crimes perhaps the interventions weren’t done ten years ago, twelve years ago, fifteen years ago and now that is what you’re seeing. And so I say again the good work that we have been doing the last four years and even now and the work that we will continue to do won’t be felt for another ten years maybe and you won’t see that. So this is a stark reminder that we must invest in our people. We have to continue investing in young people.”

Statistically, an estimated 22.2% of women in Belize have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner during their lifetime.