BELMOPAN, Mon. Feb. 7, 2022– At the first House of Representatives meeting of this year, Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia rose to present the Domestic Violence in Belize Motion, a motion that received unanimous support from both sides of the House, and that prompted several area representatives to rise to make remarks to note the importance of the issue.

“…domestic violence is recognized as a widespread international public health and human rights issue, which in all its forms has tremendous physical, mental, and emotional consequences on its victims, children, and other family members, and has far-reaching detrimental social, health and economic impacts on nations,” said Hon. Balderamos Garcia, the Minister of Human Development, Families, and Indigenous People’s Affairs.

Minister Balderamos Garcia noted that, according to the Belize Crime Observatory, at least 60% of domestic violence cases registered during 2020 were the result of intimate partner violence. She further noted that from January 2021 to November 2021, 2,155 reports of domestic violence were made to the police — 78% of which were made by women.

The motion, recommended by Cabinet, called for the House to:

1. Denounce and condemn domestic violence, in all its forms, as a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights;

2. Support the call for additional resources to further strengthen the interventions, safeguards, and public awareness required to effectively address domestic violence in Belize;

3. Undertake legislative review aimed at filling gaps and putting in the necessary reforms for the response to domestic violence;

4. As national leaders, take a zero-tolerance position with regard to domestic violence;
5. Prioritize domestic violence as a national issue of significance and pledge to take individual and collective actions to end this plague in our constituencies.

The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, was the first to express his support of the bill. “We have discussed this matter in length, and we agree a hundred million percent with this motion. Domestic violence should be condemned; gender-based violence should be condemned, and the entire House will unify to condemn domestic violence,” he stated. The newly instated leader also recommended that the House go further than what was stipulated in the motion by taking steps to implement a House committee responsible for looking into allegations made against members of parliament regarding not just domestic violence but any other instance of misconduct.

Hon. Barrow took the opportunity to speak on accusations made against him, and said that since the alleged incident he has apologized not only to his wife but to all the women in his family, including his daughter, for “even being remotely involved in such allegations.”

Also in agreement was the Albert area representative, Hon. Tracy Panton, who called the issue of gender-based violence a national epidemic.

“According to the global average, 1 in 3 women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at some point in her lifetime,” she stated, and she went on to point out that in CARICOM nations as many as 1 in every 2 women has been a victim of such incidents. Hon. Panton also emphasized her view that bringing the motion to the National Assembly was the right decision at the right time.

Orange Walk East representative, Hon. Kevin Bernard, remarked that domestic violence has become, what he called, a “crime of convenience.”

“Many of us speak out when it is convenient for us and remain silent or make excuses when it is one of our own. Madame Speaker, we recently saw that over the last few days with some of our friends on the other side,” he said.

“We should all rise, to support the member for Belize Rural Central. If not, none of us will ever have the moral authority to speak of domestic abuse, because then we will all be part of the problem,” he added.

Hon. Kareem Musa, the representative for Caribbean Shores and Minister of Home Affairs, rose to address—and condemn—the common perception that domestic violence “happens all the time” and is thus “normal”. He also commended 7News’ Jules Vasquez, host of the Uncut talk show, for standing up for a domestic violence victim, Dr. Shanikka Arnold, a move which resulted in his interview with Hon. Patrick Faber being cut short and which was criticized by many.

At the end of the discussion, a division was called on the motion, and support for it was found to be unanimous. Hon Dolores Balderamos Garcia also took the time to call for the posthumous pardoning of Nora Parham, the first and only woman in Belizean history to have been executed. She was hanged for murdering her partner, Ketchell Trapp. Parham, who was a victim of domestic abuse and had constantly complained of her partner’s behavior to police, was accused of throwing gasoline on Trapp which led to him being set on fire.