One of the participating groups in the launch of the National Anti-Violence Campaign was the soon-to-be-established Gender Affairs Unit in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mr Kenneth Hodge, Principal Assistant Secretary in that Ministry, explained the Unit’s participation in the event. “We are moving to establish our Gender Affairs Unit later this year but, in the meantime, we want to be very visible in the public. To that end, we are giving presentations and having booths and tables at every possible venue,” he told The Anguillian.
He continued: “We are here at the launching of the National Anti-Violence Campaign to show persons what gender affairs and domestic violence are all about. The aim is to try to educate and change the mindsets of people when it comes to domestic violence and gender affairs.
“We have had a lot of persons visiting our booth here, taking the brochures, signing up and asking questions and there is a lot of interest. We are looking forward to doing more of these activities in the community to attract widespread support as we go along.”
Mrs Ranyo Foy-Connor, the recently-appointed Gender Affairs Development Coordinator, was at the booth with Mr Hodge. Her comments were as follows:
“We are letting the community know that domestic violence is not just a private affair, but is something that is public and that affects all of us. We are trying to make sure that the public awareness is first on our agenda. We have brochures about domestic violence; and brochures showing some of the signs of domestic violence and offering self-checks to persons, who may be abusers, on how they can change their behaviour. Brochures are also available to persons on how they should respond if they are in an abusive relationship.”
At present, legislation and other arrangements to guide the establishment and functioning of the Gender Affairs Unit are being prepared in time for the launching of the Unit.
