HGP Nightly News – In a revelation that has fundamentally altered how remote communities understand justice, more than 100 women from South Rupununi villages have learned that the leaders they trusted to resolve disputes have no legal authority to handle the most serious of crimes.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, during a four-day outreach from February 10 to 13, delivered a stark message to residents across the South Rupununi: Toshaos and village leaders cannot settle matters of sexual offences or domestic violence. These cases must go directly to the police.
“We were not aware that the Toshaos cannot deal with sexual offences and domestic violence,” participants admitted when asked whether they would report such crimes to authorities. The response laid bare a troubling gap between traditional village governance and the formal justice system, a gap that has likely left serious crimes unpunished for years.
The DPP’s chambers confirmed that there have been allegations of village leaders attempting to resolve sexual offences internally, a practice the outreach sought to end through education and empowerment.
For the mostly female attendees, the sessions were nothing short of transformative. Armed with new knowledge about how to navigate the justice system, these women now understand that reporting matters of gender-based violence is not only their right but a critical step toward accountability.
“We need more of these public awareness and public education, because we have learnt so much from you on what to do when something happens,” one participant said, her words capturing the hunger for knowledge that exists in Guyana’s far-flung communities.
Co-Founder of the South Rupununi Wapichan Wiizi Women’s Movement, Immaculata Casimero, described the outreach as bringing “awareness, clarity and support” to residents who have long existed on the margins of the national conversation about justice.
The initiative, conducted in collaboration with the Justice Education Society, also engaged participants through arts and culture sessions. Women and children used drawings to express their thoughts on ending gender and sexual violence. a creative outlet that transformed pain into advocacy.
The message from the DPP was unambiguous: serious crimes require serious responses, and silence is no longer an option. For the women of the South Rupununi, that message may well be the most important they have ever received.
