A domestic violence case that stunned frontline workers at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security was recalled this week by Dr. Cona Husband, Manager of the Ministry’s Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Policy Unit.
She said that among the women her team has supported, one who was later killed by her partner had actually reached out for help, began counseling, and was making steady progress. But then, the victim suddenly decided she no longer needed support.
“We assisted one of them, and she came to us, got a petition, or a demand statement. We started counseling. It was going very well, and then she suddenly stopped communicating with us,” Dr. Husband explained in an interview with Guyana Standard. “We reached out, trying to find out what was happening. [She said,] ‘Okay, I’m good. I don’t need your help anymore.’ And then a couple months later, we saw her in the news.”
The revelation, Dr. Husband said, deeply unsettled staff in the unit who had been intimately involved in helping the victim.
“When these things happen, it affects everybody,” she said. “We know their names. We take them to court. We’re very intimate in their recovery and their rehabilitation. But when she decides, ‘I no longer need your help,’ there’s really nothing more we can do. We just check in. And then, when you start turning your phone off, what can we do?”
Dr. Husband stressed that her team remains committed, even as cases like this highlight the limits of intervention when a victim withdraws. While two of the women the unit was helping were among the 16 killed this year, the unit continues to work to provide support for women at risk of domestic violence. It has even had a lot of success helping many other women.
Dr. Husband gave a complete interview to Guyana Standard discussing the broader work of the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Policy Unit and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. She detailed the systems in place to assist women facing violence and the successes achieved in helping survivors reclaim their lives.
Readers can tune in to the full interview on our Facebook Live broadcast:
