GEORGETOWN – Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, has sounded a devastating public alarm, characterizing the non-consensual sharing of intimate images as a national crisis that is driving young Guyanese into emotional and psychological breakdown.
The Minister’s message is a desperate plea for self-preservation in the digital age, warning youth to recognize the fatal link between a moment of trust and a lifetime of irreversible trauma. Speaking on the Starting Point podcast, Dr. Persaud confirmed the Ministry’s deep concern, stressing that when relationships collapse, private content becomes a weapon that lives forever.
“A relationship can be wonderful this week, and next week it is not,” she explained. The terrifying consequence? “The thing is, everything can go on the internet… and it does… and it doesn’t disappear.”The consequences, the Minister revealed, are already catastrophic for victims. “We’ve seen a lot of young people become mentally unhinged because of those things.
They go into depression, all kinds of things happen,” she stated. Dr. Persaud argued that personal choice must be weighed against the potential for digital catastrophe: “If I do this, then what?” Dr. Persaud made it clear that while she urges caution, the state is fully mobilized against the perpetrators of this abuse.
“Not that I am saying to the person who releases it… you get a free pass. Absolutely not,” she asserted.In Guyana, the legal hammer is swift and brutal. The Cybercrime Act 2018 treats the distribution of intimate images without consent, or “revenge porn”, as a serious felony. Offenders convicted on indictment face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $10 million.
The Minister’s warning is backed by the full force of the law, aiming to protect young people from both the devastating emotional damage and the severe criminal consequences of digital betrayal.
