Basseterre, St. Kitts, and Nevis, Following the surge in domestic violence incidents within the past few weeks, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew convened an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss existing institutional challenges and potential legislative amendments to improve the prevention and detection of such incidents.
Present at the meeting were senior officers in the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs: Permanent Secretary (PS) Mrs. Janelle Lewis-Tafari, Director of Gender Affairs Mr. Virgil Jeffers and Senior Gender Officer Mrs. Shinelle Charles; Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Andre Mitchell; the Attorney-General Hon. Garth Wilkin; and PS in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ms. Naeemah Hazelle.
The Prime Minister expressed his thoughts on the recent increase in domestic violence incidents, outlining his empathy to the victims.
“Domestic violence is a major cause for concern. It is not an issue specific to any particular country or place. Domestic violence is a silent epidemic and one of the leading causes of injury to women. It is critical that we address, sensitize, and educate our people on domestic violence because it affects the entire family structure. What happened in Sandy Point last month with the young lady that resulted in the death of the young man and the recent incident in Nevis that resulted in the death of two persons and the injury of another is heartbreaking. Rectifying the issues and challenges within the system is a major priority item on our legislative and administrative agendas.”
There have been several domestic abuse cases over the past years. However, PS Janelle Lewis-Tafari stated that it is difficult to conduct an accurate assessment of domestic violence within the Federation because not all cases are reported. According to PS Lewis-Tafari, we had 20 reported cases in 2018; 18 in 2019; 12 in 2020; 23 in 2021; and 27 in 2022.
Several key initiatives were discussed during the meeting that could help to immediately tackle the issue of domestic violence within the Federation, including amendments to the Domestic Violence Act to speed up the restraining order process.