BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 21, 2022– The Joint Sexual Violence Prevention and Response (JSVPR) programme was officially launched in the country on Thursday, February 17. The program is aimed at addressing sexual abuse within the country’s security forces, including the Belize Police Department, the Belize Defence Force, and the Belize Coast Guard, and was created with the assistance of the Spotlight Initiative in Belize, whose mission is to ensure women enjoy their right to a life free from violence within an inclusive and gender-equitable community.

One component of the progeam is the provision of adequate response services when sexual crimes occur.

Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Kareem Musa stated in his remarks at the launch of the program, “It’s been too long now that we’ve had within our security forces the issue of sexual violence that oftentimes goes unreported because of fear and other reasons that oftentimes do not make it to the media because of our own internal protocols that we have within our security forces. It reminds me of an occasion about two years ago in the National Assembly. When there was a change to a particular legislation, the Prime Minister was proposing a change to the legislation that was setting out the procedure in instances of rape. And I remember getting up in the House, and I said, ‘But Prime Minister Barrow, the security personnel are human beings and Belize citizens just like all of us. Why are they subjected to a different standard and a different penalty for rape than a normal Belizean citizen? It should not be a Belizean citizen is sentenced to 15 or 20 years for rape but, then in the security forces, the penalty is less.’ We have to put the same penalty in place for the security forces. It’s no different.”

At Thursday’s launch, UNICEF Belize Country Representative, Alison Parker noted during her address that sexual violence is one of many issues that often go unnoticed.

“Estimates published by WHO indicate that globally about 30% of women a day are exposed to some sort of violence, especially sexual violence. Most of the violence is with close partners, whether in the office, in society, community, and sometimes in the home. And therefore it is very difficult, first of all, to report and, secondly, to respond, and thirdly to hold perpetrators accountable. So there’s a lot that goes under the table, as you would say, and nobody speaks about it, and it continues to perpetuate a culture of violence within society. Violence against women affects them physically, mentally, sexually, their reproductive health and may even risk issues of infections such as HIV and AIDS,” Parker said.