Government will be a step closer to ascertaining the prevalence and demographic characteristics of domestic violence here when the preliminary findings of a survey are released tomorrow during a Bureau of Gender Affairs – sponsored symposium.  

This disclosure has come from the Acting Director of the Bureau, John Hollingsworth, who said a lot of statistics would not be available at this time since the Caribbean Development Research Services Inc. (CADRES) was still in the process of collecting data.

The conference will be held at the Bagnall Point Gallery, Pelican Village, from 9:00 a.m. It will launch the activities to observe November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the 16-days of activism against gender-based violence.  

Mr. Hollingsworth stressed that the survey was critical, especially since there were conflicting statements recently about the incidence of domestic violence. “In addition, there are a lot of myths surrounding the issue as to what really constitutes domestic violence and what Barbadians perceive it to be. We want to provide some empirical evidence on the issue….

“This survey would provide some statistical information on domestic violence because it is perceived as an issue normally faced by low-income persons, but we believe, based on our own experience, that it permeates all socio-economic sectors, not just the low-income groups,” he stated.

He added that the survey would also look at the rate of recidivism of perpetrators of domestic violence to determine where it occurred most, whether in urban or rural communities. “We also want to find out the profiles of the perpetrators of domestic violence and the victims, so at the end of the day, we will be able to target our intervention programmes and design policies to combat the scourge,” Mr. Hollingsworth said.

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