Rape 101 in Guyana - The Purpose of this article is to Raise Awareness about Rape and Sexual Assault.
July 23, 2008
Every five minutes somewhere in the America’s/ Caribbean someone is sexually assaulted. If you have a friend who has been a victim please encourage them to report it.
Very often we would read in the Kaieteur News, Guyana Chronicle and Stabroek News that non-stranger, friends, acquaintances and intimate partners perpetrated most sexual assaults. Rape, attempted rape and sexual assault are one of the most under-reported crimes in Guyana and the Caribbean. However, the rapist of-course will walk free due to “high - connections” and bribery; the few women that report a rape chances are: an arrest will never be made, no prosecution, no felony conviction and 15 out of 16 rapist will walk free.
The horrors experienced in Guyana by many young inmates especially those who are convicted of non-violent offences have to undergo the imaginable and currently it’s a major issue in the country. Prison rape is devastating, detrimental and causes health problems such as: HIV/Aids, STD, depression, low self-esteem etc. Meanwhile most sexual victims are more likely to suffer from depression, suffer from traumatic stress disorder, more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs and contemplate suicide.
Students from University of Guyana were caught selling “date-rape” drug on the tarmac, on the streets, lacing other students’ drink until one girl died due to unknown reasons. Until today there has been no proper report from the media, University of Guyana or a post mortem report, assumptions were the girl drink was laced with drugs she bought from the canteen which she drank and passed away shortly after.
Students have access to “date-rape drug” which is legal in Guyana and is being sold as a sleeping aid. Drugs that are used on victims to assist in sexual assault are: GHB [gamma hydroxybutyric acid], Rophypnol [flunitrazepam] and Ketamine [ketamine hydrochloride]. These pills/ powder form drugs have no odor, color, dissolve quickly and take faster effects when served with alcohol. It is harder to think clearly, resist sexual or physical assault or evaluate a potentially dangerous situation when taking these drugs. Some victims claimed that the drug help them to relax and giving them a dream like feeling while others claimed that it causes unconsciousness, seizures, tremors, sweating, slow heart rate, losing sense of time and identity, numbness, aggressive behavior and slurred speech.
Contrary to the fact that rapist are hiding in the bushes and parking lots, more than 70% of the rapes committed by someone who is known to the victim. A sexual crime reported within 24 hours has a much greater chance of providing sufficient evidence and conviction. However without evidence, reporting a crime is extremely important. If you have been a victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault…USE YOUR VOICE…SPEAK UP… REPORT IT TODAY AND REMEMBER RAPE IS A CRIME AND ITS NOT YOUR FAULT!!!
How many help and shelter or crisis hotlines are there in Guyana for battered woman/ victims? Can someone please tell me? What is the government doing? Meanwhile the crime rate keeps on escalating and the so called leaders still believe that there is hope…the truth is there is No Hope For Guyanese. Everyone is trying all ways and means to get out of that country. The fact will always remained that justice will not be served.
Sara Ramlochan
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Comments
3 Responses to “Rape 101 in Guyana - The Purpose of this article is to Raise Awareness about Rape and Sexual Assault.”
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Prison rape should be motivation not to want to end up in jail. As far as I am concerned they should legalize it! That should drastically reduce the crime rate, don’t you think?
Sara, you said date-rape drug is LEGAL in Guyana?? So the government has approved the selling of this drug???
I don’t want to sound as if i am a skeptic to the above entry by Sara. What I would like to know is where you got the information about date rape drugs on the streets of Guyana. Is it speculation or is it facts? Many times we are given opinions that are bias and without facts.
Indeed I am assuming that the Government of Guyana (GOG) would not legalize the above mentioned date rape drugs. This is where I believe that your entry was bias. You present a good tale above but the lack of factual evidence discredits the entry.
Romeo
Romeo
I am a Guyanese citizen and i would like to inform you that those “date rape drugs” / medications are being sold everywhere. You have to be 18yrs and older before you can purchase it. Minors usually ask their friends to purchase it for them and there are also doctors/pharmacists who pilfer medications and sold to customers. Probably you should read the Guyana newspapers more often whereby some students attending University of Guyana are using and selling it to other students.So where did they get it fromand who should be responsible? In Corriverton market i saw a pharmacist selling valium to a 13 yrs old girl. Go to all the secondary schools and do a survey,maybe then you will be shocked to learn how much students was raped by fellow students simply by accepting a soft drink or students trying to commit suicide by overdosing themselves with the same medications. The drugs are legalized for other purposes meanwhile others use it to satisfy their lust.whether you want to believe it or not it is a fact and it is happening-and you need to listen to the voices on the streets.