Publicité

Violence against Women: We have had it

18 septembre 2019, 09:09

Par

Partager cet article

Facebook X WhatsApp

lexpress.mu | Toute l'actualité de l'île Maurice en temps réel.

Four deaths too many. It is time to commit, act and stop domestic violence. Some victims succumb and thousands suffer in silence. Assassination of women has reached its peak in the last two weeks. Shabneez, Joyce, Stephanie and Chansela have each been recklessly butchered in Bel-Air, Cité-Piton, Sainte-Croix and Citron-Donis respectively. The shock was nationwide.

Domestic violence is the most unreported crime worldwide. Behind the official statistics, there are also thousands of victims suffering silently. Their homes are no more a place of safety. Domestic violence affects women from all social classes, religions, colours and race. Even though gender based violence (“GBV”) can include violence against men and boys, women remain a more vulnerable group due to historical and cultural reasons. Last year, 32 women in Mauritius were killed, by a man on account of their gender.

Physical, psychological, verbal, sexual, stalking and isolating

The legislation on domestic violence in Mauritius have been amended several times. Our legislators have tried to modernize the laws in order to provide better protection to the victims. Domestic violence englobes physical, psychological, verbal, sexual violence, stalking and isolating the other partner among others. Unfortunately, our law does not include economic abuse as a form of domestic violence. Economic violence is when one prevents one’s partner from getting and keeping a job or using and/or controlling access to money or force the partner to enter into debts.

Even though, our Protection from Domestic Violence Act recognises sexual abuse, marital rape is still not an explicit offence under the penal code. Any situation in which one is forced to participate in unwanted, unsafe, or degrading sexual activity is sexual abuse. Forced sex, even by a spouse or intimate partner with whom you also have consensual sex, is an act of aggression and domestic violence and should be punished under the criminal code. Furthermore, people whose partners abuse them physically and sexually are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed.

Lack of safeguards

There is a lack of safeguards under Section 75 of the Constitution to prevent pardon being granted to convicted perpetrators of GBV. We still have in mind the case where the Commission of Mercy had granted remission to a rapist who had raped a minor.

Section 242 of our Criminal Code is clearly archaic. It provides that if a manslaughter is committed by a spouse at the very moment he finds her in the act of adultery, it is excusable. This section has already been removed in the French Penal Code in 1975. It seems, domestic violence is justified, in cases of actual or suspected infidelity on the part of the woman, and is being legally used as a mitigation factor in sentencing the perpetrator instead of making them take total ownership of their crime.

In UK, there is the disclosure scheme known as the Clare’s law, whereby you can find out if your partner has a history of violence.

Promises

It does not matter how cracking the law is. We must set up mechanisms, in order to effectively enforce the present legislation. A simple search on the website of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family will show that they have not even compiled all the amendments on the Protection from Domestic Violence Act in one single piece of paper.

It would have made it more user friendly. In 2017, Minister-in-Charge Jeewa-Dawreeawoo pointed out that an Integrated Support Services Centre (Command Centre) will soon be set up at the level of her ministry and an action plan on intimate partner violence, whereby focus will be laid on consolidating existing legislation, prevention and capacity building of stakeholders will be implemented. Till now, neither the Action Plan has been released nor the Command Centre for domestic violence that will act as a onestop shop department for issues pertaining to domestic violence has been set up.

In California, there’s a 52 weekly rehabilitation programme called “batterers intervention program” that can be imposed by court on the batterer to follow. In Mauritius, even though the law provides it is possible for the batterer to attend rehabilitation programmes, such programmes have not yet been set up by the Ministry. There is also lack of monitoring mechanism to evaluate the impact of existing legislation at government level.

Abusive Partners

In our legislation, the court can issue Protection Order, Tenancy Order as well as Occupation Order, together with many other ancillary measures including the provision of alimony, forcing the perpetrator to continue paying the mortgage or the rent, asking the police to protect the victims and so on. In reality, we see that very few Tenancy and Occupancy Orders as well as ancillary measures are being issued by our courts.

A study should be carried out to find out why such orders are rarely issued. Tenancy and Occupation Orders are orders where the perpetrator is ousted out of the conjugal roof. Many victims have complained that they have to return to the conjugal roof and have to face the abusive partner. In many other jurisdictions, it is easier for the victims to get Restraint Orders. It is imperative that our judiciary be trained on GBV, so that the laws are better enforced and sentencing harsher on perpetrators of domestic violence.

Police takes too much time to act

Even police officers should be constantly trained on how to attend issues of domestic violence. There is limited available and quality assistance and protection services in cases of continuing and aggravating threats against women under Protection Orders. The police takes too much time to provide assistance, and there are low rates of prosecutions and convictions for offences of GBV. Domestic violence should be promptly investigated, perpetrators be prosecuted and adequately punished, and victims should have access to appropriate redress, including compensation.

Vicious circle of violence

Many victims suffer in silence because they are dependent on the abuser. The government should provide a quota in housing to victims and set up a centre that will assist the victims in finding a job and/or provide training, in order for them to be financially independent and to break the vicious circle of violence. More adequate shelters of better standards should be opened for victims and their children.

Commitment

Regular Awareness Raising Campaigns should be carried out, informing about the definition of domestic violence as well as on the existing mechanism and remedies. We must explain what psychological and verbal abuse consist of to the public, as this kind of abuse is less known and victims finding themselves amidst such violence can think they are the ones at fault.

Humiliating, negating, criticizing, name calling, public embarrassment, yelling, character assassination, belittling one’s accomplishments, direct orders, lecturing, monitoring your whereabouts, threats and so on are all kinds of psychological and verbal violence. Women should be able to freely exercise their rights of expression and movement and to be able to take decisions. Sensitizing the youngsters about GBV should start from primary schools and it should be included in the school curriculum.

We must all be fully committed to tackle domestic abuse. It is indeed too late for those who have lost their lives. But if we wish to eradicate violence against women, all stakeholders from the police forces, health institutions, Ministry and Family Protection Unit should all sing the same hymn in relation to domestic violence. It is only then, that we shall send a clear message that there will be zero tolerance in relation to violence against women and girls.