Crisis Centre should be up and running by year end, says Oliver

The Crisis Centre for victims of domestic violence will hopefully be in full operation by year end.{{more}}

This was stated by Coordinator of the Gender Affairs Division of the Ministry of National Mobilization Polly Oliver.

On Tuesday, November 22, Oliver told SEARCHLIGHT that currently, basic retrofitting needs to be done on the building and as soon as everything is completed, the building will be up and running.

“It took some time to get it going; it’s better that you take your time, get it right and when you start you get it started on the right footing. You don’t want to start and then you have to stop along the way. So, it may look a little long to some people, since it was in the pipeline, but it is definitely going to come on stream,” Oliver said.

Highlighting that there is an urgent need for the centre, Oliver added that the centre will provide counseling to victims, among other services.

“The underlying thing is for you to leave there empowered, making sure that you do not go back into the same situation…or to move out of the situation, or make sure that you have a hold of the situation or crisis that would have caused you being there,” she said. Oliver stated that persons should stay at the crisis centre for at least three months, during which time, they will undergo counseling.

The centre will not only cater for battered women, but also children who are victims of related acts of violence.

According to Oliver, there is currently no safe home or centre available for victims of domestic abuse in St. Vincent. She stated in such cases, women may retreat to the home of a relative.

Stating that the rate of reported domestic violence cases has increased, Oliver added that the rate of increase is “troubling”, but, however, stated that we are not the worst.

“It is very troubling in terms of what we are hearing, but we are not the worst in anyway. What is really heart-rending, is when that domestic violence leads to taking a life. That should not be tolerated,” she stated.

In June 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Social Invesment Fund and the National Council of Women for the establishment of the Crisis Centre. The estimated date of completion for the second phase of the project, at that time, was given as 2010.