The National Women's Commission, one of the partners of the Belize Crime Observatory, also participated in yesterday's stakeholder session. Its executive director used the opportunity to explore current trends in violence against women and against elderly Belizeans.
Here's what she had to say on recent statistics in this area:
Cynthia Williams - Executive Director, Nat'l Women's Commission "1 in 3 women globally physical and/or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner in their life, mostly by the intimate partners. We look at 1 in 20 persons who believe that a husband is justified in hitting or beating their wives. In 2018, we had 19 women who died were murdered. In 2019, that number, even though it is decreased, it's a high number in comparison to other years at 17. 83% of the cases filed with police continue to be from females. And in a newer area that we're starting to document, or at least trying to recognize, and work in collaboration with the National Council on Ageing is looking at violence that is perpetrated against the elderly. We look at the drastic change in the last 4 years, which could be good. And it could also be bad. When we looked at 13 reports that were filed, at least we see more people filing reports. In 2020, we look at 31 filed reports to the police department. That can tell us that people, at least, are feeling more comfortable, are feeling that they are able to come forward, and file reports. And it begins to provide the evidence to demonstrate how widespread gender-based violence is, and not only for the younger generation. But it also transcends for persons over 60 years old."
According to the experts, there was a spike in domestic violence complaints this year, which coincided with COVID-19 restrictions to movement.
