On Thursday, December 10th, officially designated as Human Rights Day, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between SAFE and key partners of Anguilla’s public institutions. The signing of the MOU took place at the Conference Room of the Anguilla Tourist Board.
The acronym SAFE is an abbreviation for “Stopping Abuse For Everyone”. SAFE is an organization that was devised by Mrs. Jade Richardson and her colleague Ms. Vyonne Brooks, and is actually an offshoot of the organisation Hats and Heels, also initiated by Mrs. Richardson and Ms. Brooks, whose main purpose is to cater to the empowerment of women in our community.
Signing the MOU on behalf of their various departments were: Chief Education Officer, Mr. Bren Romney; Police Commissioner, Paul Morrison; Chief Immigration Officer, Ms. Lauren Bryan; CEO of the Health Authority, Mrs. Maeza Demis-Adams; Director of the Anguilla Red Cross, Mrs. La Toya Hobbs-Nurse; Chairperson of PAVE, Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley; and a representative from Eleos Family Support Ministry, Mrs. Hyacinth Hughes. Each was read their obligations to the support of SAFE by Community Services Planner at the Ministry of Social Development, Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mrs. Richardson declared: “Today we are engaging in the signing of an MOU between the SAFE Board and our key referral partners with the aim of assisting victims of domestic violence. The mission statement of our SAFE Board is to provide services in a manner that fosters self respect and independence to those experiencing domestic violence and to lead in the response to end this kind of violence through advocacy and community engagement.”
She continued by listing a few of the objectives of SAFE which include: to establish a supportive mechanism to assist survivors; to build individual knowledge of available services; to enhance networking among service providers; and to advocate for the elimination of domestic violence.
Mrs. Richardson expressed her thanks to key individuals who had played a part in crafting the MOU and making it a reality. She noted: “As the President of SAFE, I would like to give special gratitude to a few persons who have been on the long but great journey of creating this MOU. I wish to thank Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley who has worked tirelessly, going above and beyond in assisting us to get to this point. I also thank Dr. Ronya Foy-Connor who has been our partner since the inception. In addition, I thank our telecommunications partner, Mr. Desron Bynoe. I do appreciate his assistance. By the same token, I thank Mrs. Kerchelle Jn Charles-Hodge, CEO of Digicel, who never hesitated when I approached her for participation and assistance in this endeavour.”
By extension, she thanked the members of the SAFE Board for their unwavering support and instrumental assistance in formulating the MOU. These Board members in particular included: Mrs. Angelina Carty, and Ms. Charlene Roach. In general, however, she thanked all the Board members for their valuable contributions to SAFE.
Mrs. Richardson went on to express her thanks to the noteworthy financial contributors to SAFE, which include: Leviticus Lifestyles, the Anguilla Tourist Board, the Social Security Board, Alliance Insurance, the Department of Youth and Culture, Gender Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development, Paradise Cove Hotel and ANGLEC. “These key partners,” she said, “have kept us alive for the past five years, and they have never hesitated to contribute financially.”
In applauding the work of SAFE, Gender Affairs Coordinator, Dr. Ronya Foy said: “We are now at the tail-end of our ‘Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence’ which ends today, Human Rights Day. It is a fitting day for signing this MOU, where we make a pledge to support the rights of humans who are victims and survivors of domestic violence. I am really pleased that we are able to have this signing today.”
In particular, Mrs. Foy-Connor voiced her gratitude for two women who were sent to Anguilla by the United Nations Women Caribbean Office, based in Antigua, who conducted training sessions on how to set up a Domestic Violence Hotline. These two Domestic Violence Hotline representatives, Ms. Tonni-Ann Brodber and Ms. Farmala Jacobs visited Anguilla for this purpose in February of 2019.
The Honourable Minister of Social Development and Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers made her comments at the ceremony, saying: “The signing of this MOU today is a testament of the hard work of the initiators. I am pleased that this signing is taking place on Human Rights Day. One of my favourite quotes for Human Rights Day was coined by John F. Kenney who said: ‘The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.’”
“This speaks to the fact that we are our brothers’ keepers,” she continued, “and what happens to other people is not separate and apart from what happens to all of us. If we believe that we are one human race, we would realize that whatever befalls one person must affect all of us. This particular day is momentous because today— by the signing of this MOU, we are taking a stand against the scourge of domestic violence.”
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
