BELMOPAN, Fri. Jan. 15, 2021– A heinous act of violence was committed in the Alta Vista village last month against a young woman by her common-law husband. The twenty-eight-year-old woman got into an argument with her common- law-husband, Joel Baldarez, aged 34, on December 23, 2020, and at some point during the disagreement he retrieved a hammer and delivered multiple blows to his wife’s face and skull.

The young woman was left disfigured and required several stitches for her injuries. The police detained Baldarez, who has been on remand at the Belize Central Prison since December 31. The story roused a wave of public outrage and condemnation. On Friday, January 15, the Ministry of Human Development issued a statement which read:

“We absolutely need to remind everyone that the struggle against this terrible evil of domestic violence never ceases. In these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing more reports of violence in the home, affecting not only women, but also children and the elderly. We make a public commitment to continue to do our best with our initiative and thank all our contributing partners with whom we will work to advance the cause of protecting our women and families and all survivors of gender-based violence.”

The Minister of Human Development, Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia, also gave a statement to News5 on Tuesday, in which she stressed the Ministry’s policy of zero-tolerance for domestic violence:

“in terms of how terrible this latest report was, we felt that it was important to reiterate a zero-tolerance policy of the ministry and all our partners.” Minister Balderamos Garcia said.
She added, “We wanted to make sure that we keep highlighting the fact that the fight and combating the gender-based violence is never-ending, and it is ongoing and we all have to recommit ourselves, because it is a surge that we have to try to reduce and wipe out if possible.”