The Gender Equality Forum (GEF) is calling on policymakers to draft and enact Hate Crime Legislation as this is not catered for in Guyana’s constitution.
The group today launched its Hate Crime Report, outlining that within the last three years, reports of hate crimes have skyrocketed. It was also noted that many cases still remain unreported, while others are unsolved.
The report, the first of its kind for this country, provides a situational analysis on hate crimes that have occured over the years. Prominent figures and stakeholders, including victims of hate crimes were all interviewed by a team of specialists who compiled the report. The document is expected to be used for further lobbying on the issue.
The first chapter, authored by Guyanese researcher, Pere DeRoy, presented a situational analysis on hate crimes which a focus on ethnicity, gender and sexuality in Guyana.
In the second chapter, Professor James Chalmers, Regius Chair of Law at the University of Glasgow, offered a comparative legal analysis to inform local proposals on hate-crime legislation.
In the third chapter, Guyanese lawyers at Sigimund Consultants Inc., led by Attorney-at-Law Rosemary Benjamin-Noble, offered a survey of the local legal landscape that must be considered when legislating on hate crime.
The report also provided an analysis of what causes hate crimes and how it affects marginalized groups. Furthermore, the document illustrates that there are a number of factors that can fuel hate crimes, such as racism, patriarchal sexism, homophobia and transphobia. The ideologies of these factors establish a negative sense of dominance over minority groups in society, according to the report.
GEF’s Managing Director, Joel Simpson, explained that gathering statistical data on hate crimes pose a major setback since information on these types of crimes is non-existent. He said what is more troubling is that during the interviews, the team discovered that many of the unreported hate crimes were committed based on frivolous ideologies including race and sexual orientation.
“It is very hard to tell because there tends to be so much under reporting that I am very cautious about saying that…there is an increase. I think hate crimes against LGBTIQ people don’t necessarily result in murder, but there is the issue of harassment. For LGBTIQ people, that’s an everyday reality,” Simpson said.
As it relates to the sorepoint of racism, Simpson said there is always a reluctance to speak on this issue at the level of policy makers, and as such, persons tend to spew racism on online platforms and even threaten to commit acts of violence. He drew reference to the unsolved murders of the Henry Boys and Haresh Singh in September 2020. Simpson said that based on the evidence reviewed, crimes of these nature had increased during the pre and post period of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
“We definitely saw an upshoot during the study period of hate crimes relating to race and ethnicity, and chapter one gives the examples, ‘the Henry Boys,’ Haresh Singh and the retaliatory murders. So, we saw that in more prominent ways that you haven’t seen since we have gotten out of that elections cycle,” Simpson said.
When asked about how the group intends to relate this information to policy makers, members said that consultation will first be held with more stakeholders before it is lobbied at the level of the National Assembly. The group said it is important for the information to be disseminated for education purposes first.
