Richards puts forward private motion that is more than a 'pepper spray debate'

INDEPENDENT senator Paul Richards has put forward a private members’ motion for the government to “critically assess the deficiencies in the current systems to deal with the incidences of violent crimes against women and girls.” He urged that it was not a “pepper spray debate,” but one that aims to finding solutions and not “playing the blame game” or “finger-pointing.”

He was speaking in the senate on Tuesday afternoon where he said this country is failing women and girls “miserably.”

He commended the police for creating a gender-based violence unit and the public for advocating through protests and vigils, but said things still need to be taken a step further.

“This has to be an all of citizen approach.

“As I speak now, girls and women are more than likely being violated, abused, assaulted in our beautiful country….The systems fail our girls and women – families, friends, communities, religious leaders, law enforcement, the judiciary…We all fail collectively.”

He said the country is facing a crisis that requires “all hands on deck” to combat.

He said having a safe and reliable public transport system is also crucial, alluding to the fact that many recent incidents of violence against women involved PH taxis.

He said the fact that millions are spent on the PTSC (Public Transport Service Commission) annually but only covers “three to five per cent of the travelling public,” is “atrocious.

“We need to unite, assess, design, implement, monitor and save our girls and women…A safe, reliable taxi system is a great additional mechanism.”

He also expressed disappointment in religious leaders who, on the basis of their beliefs, advise women to reunite with their abuser.

“In some cases, religious leaders instruct women or girls to go back to a situation to protect their marital vows. In spite of the fact that the female has told them, ‘My life is in danger,’ ‘I have been hit,’ ‘I have been assaulted,’ ‘He’s cheating on me and I fear I contract a deadly STD.’”

Opposition senator Jayanti Lutchmedial also said that within her legal profession, she has witnessed similar.

“I have had the experience of a priest telling me as a prosecutor that I should not pursue or encourage a victim to give evidence because a man had repented and confessed and that we should leave it to the Lord. And this was a man videotaping himself having sex with his two stepdaughters who were under the age of ten. “

She too agreed that the system “simply frustrates them (victims) into just giving up and staying quiet and not taking on the burden that it creates for them.”

Richards also suggested the creation of a task to allow a “multi-faceted approach.

“Colleagues, while I believe that pepper spray legislation is productive and important…this is not a pepper spray debate but a small part of what we need in a holistic solution that’s sustainable.

"That’s why the motion has been worded as it has been and it’s not intended to be an indictment against the current government, otherwise it would be an indictment against several past successive administrations. This is aimed at getting past the blame game.”