‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken is facing a backlash after suggesting that women dress less provocatively to discourage sexual violence.
Hicken’s comment was made during a presentation of rape statistics yesterday, when he revealed that for 2014, 50 women have reported being raped between January 1 and November 10. This figure is a 31.5% increase from last year’s corresponding figure, when 38 women reported rape.
Hicken went on to caution women, particularly young, “vulnerable” ones, to not play into a rapist’s agenda by dressing immorally.
“You know, we’re speaking of preventing somebody from committing an offence and yet we are creating an atmosphere in terms of our society,” Hicken said.
He went on, “When we are within our partnership programmes we advocate for the young females who seem to be vulnerable in a certain age group – that moving from around 13 to 18, 16 to 18 – and we always try to embrace an attire that would be accepted morally.”
Hicken further advised women to avoid attire that create “this type of look, a menacing look by the opposite gender.”
In response, main opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) voiced its concern at the statements and emphasised the need for greater education in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on rape.
APNU said in a statement that the commander’s remarks are wrong. “APNU affirms that this is wrong and sends a message to victims of rape that they were somehow responsible for the violence meted out to them,” the coalition said.
“Rape is a violent crime, a hostile act, and an attempt to hurt and humiliate another person. Sex is used as a weapon, and rapists use that weapon against women, strangers and acquaintances of all ages, races, and body types,” it added.
According to APNU, Hicken’s remarks clearly show a need for improved education within the force to sensitize officers on rape. APNU added that this education is necessary at all levels. “Police officers must be educated to know that rapists are not overcome with sexual desire or that a woman who is raped may have dressed too seductively or ‘asked for it’ in some manner,” APNU emphasised.
The GPF has only recently been denounced for the manner in which it dealt with rape reports; in September a young Amerindian woman reported that she was drugged then raped by three men at a business in Mahdia where she was employed.
She subsequently made two reports, one in Mahdia and one in Georgetown, only to be told by the police that no rape had occurred and she had instead willingly had sex with one of the men when the others joined in.
Similarly, at Matthew’s Ridge a partially-paralysed elderly woman alleged that she was raped in her own home during the night.
In both cases, the police indicated that they would only be investigating physical assault.
Guyana currently has a rape conviction record of 1.4%, while only 3% of 647 rape reports from 2000 to 2004 made it to trial, a Guyana Human Rights Association report showed.
