KHANDI Gibson, an advocate for violence victims.
By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
KHANDI Gibson, an advocate for violence victims, said the Royal Bahamas Police Force must treat rape victims more compassionately.
She said she assisted a rape victim at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) recently and was disappointed by the lack of confidentiality involved in the experience.
“I feel like sexually assaulted victims, rape, incest, and molestation, I think it should be a special code when you come to the police station,” Ms Gibson said.
“The person sitting down waiting to be served, they done hear what you come here for, there’s no confidentiality, there’s no privacy.”
She said officers did not give the rape victim a ride home after she visited the station.
“She telephoned me back an hour later and said she had to catch the bus. Where is the compassion?” Ms Gibson asked. “There’s no unmarked car that the police officers could have dropped her back home into her residence?”
For his part, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said a woman leads the Sexual Offences Unit in the Central Investigation Department and that officers are trained on how to interact with victims.
He encouraged victims to make a complaint if they experienced unpleasant service.
“If anyone feels that they are not properly dealt with, again, the Protection Against Violence Act that we have just passed in Parliament creates a right to be treated with respect, a right to be treated with compassion,” he said. “That is now in law in that act, a right that every victim of a sexual offence has. If they feel their rights have been abused, they ought to make a report.”
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Comments
ThisIsOurs 10 months, 2 weeks ago
"The person sitting down waiting to be served, they done hear what you come here for, there’s no confidentiality, there’s no privacy.*"
More than 20 years ago I asked a bank clerk, why do you have me here shouting my name, address and identifying details across a counter? Nothing has changed. In the Bananas there is a fundamental misunderstanding of data privacy and how valuable small details are to hackers and identity thieves. I can only imagine the trauma of having to also shout the ways in which you were violated across a counter.
I struggle with releasing information on the 8 year old rape victim in order to provide support (and the posting of a video with contact details of a tourist). While most people will be supportive, some people can be cruel, most especially classmates and other children.
Very simple solution. Place an iPad where persons key in basic information, it can be but doesnt have to be networked, it's just for the purpose of transmitting details at that point. Some persons may not be able to read so you need very simple layouts with suitable icons. You can have an education campaign around what those icons mean. Think for example when you're in an airport in a foreign non English speaking country. All airports have agreed upon symbols that any traveler will recognize as a bathroom, food location, police station, teller machine etc etc.
This solution should not cost more than 3000 dollars. Even that's high, but I'll allow for the time necessary to code and test. The maintenance contract should consider a given number of hours of support per month, maybe 10, at no more than 100 dollars per hour. Any support over that time maxed at 150 per hour. There should be no circumstance where any month sees more than 5 extended support hours per station. This is a simple application. Your graphic designer who sits with people under the dilly tree to get their feedback on proposed icons may have a different rate. Remember people have to intuitively link the visual with something and they should be tasteful not further traumatic. But that's a one time project charge no more than 8k. Enough with these multi million dollar technology projects for 10hours of work. e.g Marco's alert.
And of course remember sanitation.
killemwitdakno 10 months, 2 weeks ago
She's doing so well.
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