Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud on Friday said that there has been an increase in the number of reports receive via the country’s 914 domestic abuse hotline, which she said is evidence that persons are taking gender-based violence (GBV) more seriously.
“Last year we had 11,327 calls made to that hotline. This year we have passed that number and I could see that that number will continue to climb. You may get worried but I feel better about it because it means that people are taking reporting seriously and I believe that’s the first step in this fight—we must report every instance of violence and abuse…we have made it easy by not only giving that toll free number and that 24 hour service…we have added that number to an iMatter app which offers resources,” she said, while noting that the app has disaggregated information for every level of person.
