The Domestic Violence Act should be amended to close the loopholes that allow these crimes of passion to keep recurring, according to the Women’s arm of the United National Congress (UNC).

“Almost an entire year has passed since the Opposition introduced a Private Motion in Parliament calling on the Government to introduce new measures to prevent Gender-Based Violence and to date, nothing substantial has been done,” the party lamented in a news release.

“ Meanwhile, our women continue to face the danger of assault, oftentimes resulting in their death. The case of the murder-suicide this week (Naiee and Roger Singh) was just another example of how the current system of laws and policies are ineffective, to say the least.

 “Several Non-Governmental Organisations met with us and discussed plans and proposals that will increase the levels of legislative and other forms of protection for our women and girls in society.

 “Suggestions advanced during the debate on this motion included those from consultations with the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Coalition of Domestic Violence Against Women, WOMANTRA, The UWI Institute for Gender and Development Studies, from MindWise Project, and our own UNC Women’s Arm.

“Proposed amendments include: removing the perpetrator from the home instead of the victim and a better-defined time frame for the police to respond to these complaints,” the UNC’s Women’s Arm said.

“Further, we recognise the need for greater emphasis to be placed on the education and sensitization of our nation’s children on gender-based violence. This measure, if properly implemented in schools and other settings, could play an important role in reducing gender-based violence.

“With 2020 only just beginning we have seen too many of our sisters murdered. In March of 2019, in response to the motion on increasing the levels of protection of our nation’s women by the Opposition, the Minister of National Security and The Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister made several commitments but to date, nothing significant has been done,” the Women’s Arm stated.

The UNC Women’s Arm wants  Government to take urgent steps to ensure another life is not allowed to be taken by this scourge of domestic violence and to, at the bare minimum, heed the calls by the other various NGOs which have also been outspoken on this plaguing issue of Gender-Based Violence.