There has been an increase in reports of domestic violence in
Suriname's rural areas and particularly in the districts of Nickerie and
Commewijne; without mentioning exact figures the police and Justice Minister
Edward Belfort say that in Commewijne 'daily' cases of domestic
violence are reported. Nickerie has reports over 100 cases in the first half of
2012.
Belfort said that women are not the only the victims of
domestic abuse and that men and children are also being hurt. Many cases are
related to the low social conditions as well as to drug and alcohol abuse. The
government plans to establish shelters and professional help for the victims,
who currently can only seek refuge with relatives and friends because there are
no professional facilities for them.
It should be noted that, in the last few years, sexual and
domestic violence have been more focused on by the Surinamese authorities. One
of the results has been that the taboo on the issues is broken. The increasing
number of reports does not necessarily mean that the number of incidents has
also increased. The higher number can be ascribed to the lowered threshold for
the victims to report such incidents to the police.
© 2012 Menas Associates
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