Special Envoy Says Stronger Policies Would Deter Gender-Based Violence  

And while the police were swift to deal with the family who are accused of assaulting and committing aggravating offences against the victim of the kidnapping in Belmopan, today the Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children, Rossana Briceño, also weighed in on gender-based violence against women. Briceño expressed her view that crime and violence, particularly against women, are on the increase because of a lax effort to strengthen the policies that deal with these crimes.

 

Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy, Development of Families & Children

“With all the stories that you’re hearing now, I get frustrated sometimes, and I personally feel, and this is my personal feeling here, that more can be done in terms of policy. We do have policies in place, but I think the implementation of the policies really need to take center stage now, and make sure that they are being implemented, and we need someone, someone to do the check and balance and evaluate if these things are really working because if they’re not working, we need to do better. And we have time. We can always do something, especially for women. Most of the time, it’s women that are the victims.”