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Some years ago the Belize Family Court approached the National Gender Based Committee of the Women’s Department about the possibility of introducing a Batterers Prevention Programme. it was felt that while the issue has been fairly addressed with support services and access to justice for victims of domestic violence, not much attention has been given to the perpetrators of such crimes – the men who batter women. And three years later a group from the United Nations Development Fund for Women is in Belize meeting with prospective partners in Belize that will hopefully lead to the government implementing the program as part of its overall plan to address domestic violence.

Icilda Humes, Director – Women’s Department
“The problem is that when we have the domestic violence victims, and I’ll use women because the majority of the domestic violence victims in Belize and basically in the world are women. When women decide to move out of an abusive relationship, often times they go back. So there is reunification and what happens is that there has been rehabilitation as such. Even if there is not reunification, that perpetrator would still go and enter into a new relationship with someone else. But if his behaviour has not been addressed then the problem will continue.”

Leal Odle Benson,
“We met with the Magistrates today and we had a very successful meeting. In fact they were very excited to take this forward, both the Family Court and Magistrate’s Court. Basically it calls for them looking at particular avenues through which we can pursue this. Through the civil court we believe that it can be pursued through a counseling order, a provision in the new Domestic Violence Act. In the Magistrate’s Court they are looking at how they can include the matter in terms of criminal provisions that would allow them to refer the individuals to the program as mitigating factors in their sentencing. So that is what we are looking at terms of the Belize situation.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
The meeting with the Magistrates was really successful so how soon do you see this thing coming on board?

Icilda Humes,
“Well UNI-FEM is really ready to go and the expert that is going to be doing the training in Belize is also ready to go. Belize needs to be ready to go and a lot of that will involve human resources and financial resources. Not a lot of money but just enough money to ensure that the program can be effective and that it can be sustained.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
No doubt the program has been tried throughout the Caribbean, how many countries have actually tapped into it and what has been the success?

Leal Odle Benson,
“Well we’ve received a lot of success with the program in that people want to buy into the program. We piloted it in Grenada in 2005 and they have achieved significant success with our operating partner the Legal Aid and Counseling Unit in Grenada and through them we’ve gone into other regions as well; Saint Lucia, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.”

According to the Director of Women’s Department Icilda Humes, UNIFEM is willing to offer some funds but it has yet to be determined how the program will be sustained. The one day gathering is part of the Sixteen Days of Activism.

7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift