Domestic Violence Unit Renamed Gender-Based Violence Unit

The Domestic Violence Unit of the Belize Police Department has long been known for its crucial role in defusing heated disputes and helping to put perpetrators behind bars with solid evidence. The unit also works closely with the Ministry of Human Development. Now, as of New Year’s Day, it has been rebranded as the Gender-Based Violence Response and Investigative Unit (GVRIU). This change, while still under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been warmly welcomed by Minister Dolores Balderamos-Garcia.

 

On the Phone: Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development

“Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams called me on it and I ran it by our senior staff and we said, absolutely. We embrace and we welcome the change because, you know, the word domestic when you talk about, if you talk about, if you use domestic as a noun, a domestic means somebody who works in the home or in the house and then when you say domestic violence, it’s violence in the home. However, Gender based violence cuts right across the board, whether it is in the workplace, whether it’s on the street, there are so many things that happen in terms of the, of the gendered aspect of violence, whether it be sexual harassment and, you know, we have new sexual harassment legislation. Like I say, whether it’s on the street at the workplace when you’re traveling, when you’re moving around, um, there is violence, which is gender based and so it does not only occur in the home.”