As Guyana observes 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based violence, the Managing Director of ChildLink, Omattie Madray, who is also a member of the Civil Society National Reference Group, has noted that 2025 has marked another violent year for women and girls in Guyana.

At the launch of a “Red Shoe” event hosted by UN-Guyana and the Women and Gender Equality Commission on Tuesday, Ms. Madray reported that a number of women were brutally murdered since the start of the year by their partners in Guyana, and the situation is worrying.

“At the beginning of the year, violence was quite high. At one point in time, the stats was showing every 16 days a woman was being killed – gunned down, very heinous murders and suicide and children being abandoned,” Madray said.

She sounded an alarm for stronger legislation, and support services for women and girls. She told those present at the event that the lived experience of women is far greater than the level of services provided to them, noting that more must be done to correct that.

In Guyana, more than 16 women have been killed since the start of the year.

 “They need different types of interventions, they need a combination of interventions, they need so much more that it would require a lot more than what we are doing now to really reduce and eventually, significantly reduce violence against women and girls,” Madray said.

Pointing to ChildLink, Ms. Madray said the organization is seeing a growing number of children being sexually abused in the country, with 90% of the cases being related to girls who were sexually abused by a family member or persons within their communities.  

She said greater interventions are needed.

Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator, Jean Kamau said violence against women and girls is a global issue with statistics indicating that nearly 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Ms. Kamau said globally, a woman or girl is killed by a partner or relative every 10 minutes.

She said stronger legislation, and greater protections are needed to safeguard women.

“Today’s Red Shoe event honors the women whose lives were lost. And as we reflect on their stories let’s continue advocating for stronger laws, better support for women rights organizations, and a greater investment in prevention, digital literacy and online safety,” the UN Representative said.

The UN Resident Representative said in addition to those violently killed, abused and assaulted, women are now becoming victims of digital violence,

“While the online world was meant to create connectivity and opportunity, it has become a source of harm for many women and girls, especially those with public or online visibility such as activists, journalists, women in politics, and human rights defenders. The impact is even greater for women who face additional layers of discrimination such as race, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation,” she explained.

Just days ago, a Georgetown man was sentenced to 24 months in jail and fined $2.5M for sharing private photos of his ex-girlfriend.

Chief Executive Officer of the Women and Gender Equality Commission, Renata Chuck-A-Sang said an all out country approach is needed to tackle the scourge of gender-based violence.

 “If every day we wake up with the intention to note be violent then I think that for days like this it will not be so traumatic for us,” she said.

For 16 days, organizations across the country will be raising heightened awareness to issue of violence against women and girls.

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