Dear Editor,
Cognisant of an article published in the Stabroek News on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, under the caption ‘Police Commander under fire for blaming victims for rapes’ and other media coverage of this matter, the Guyana Police Force wishes to advise the public that the Police Divisional Commander of ‘A’ Division has been taken out of context. The Divisional Commander had no intention to, in any way, justify sexual assaults.
While the males in our society ought not to interpret a female’s mode of dress to be sending a particular type of signal, the fact remains that it is happening to some degree.
The Divisional Commander has a lot of experience which provides information arising out of interviews of suspects in sexual assault matters, as well as intelligence coming from discussions among elements of criminal groups regarding sexual assaults they would have committed. This occurs when such groups have been infiltrated.
In many cases the discussions would have suggested that the mode of dress of the victims may have contributed to the suspects’ selection of targets.
The Divisional Commander felt obligated to share that information as one of his crime prevention strategies focusing on sexual assault.
The Guyana Police Force supports the Divisional Commander in his crime prevention efforts, inclusive of sharing pertinent information, and wishes to reiterate that the Commander had no intention of defining moral conduct and that the statement was aimed totally towards crime prevention.
Yours faithfully,
Ivelaw Whittaker
Public Relations and Press Officer
