Men Should Pay For Rehab - Gender Affairs

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(PLTM) - The Partnership for Peace programme, though proven a vital instrument to persons, families and communities in the British Virgin Islands, is one that is very expensive to sustain. Thus, the Department of Gender Affairs is of the view that these men who are more or less receiving a slap on their back for their injustices, should pay a fine for the assistance.

The programme, that has been running for the last six years, caters to male residents who have been sanctioned by the court to seek assistance for offenses related to abuse on their spouse.

Participants of this programme are subjected to 16 weeks of psycho educational sessions, that are designed to address the issue of violence from a male or a batterer’s perspective.

In an interview earlier this month with Ms. Lorolie Connor, Coordinator of the Department of Gender Affairs, she disclosed that discussions are underway regarding the government’s financial commitment to the programme.

The initiative, which costs a whopping $10,000 per cycle, is said to be a burden on the department and the financing and success of other projects.

“There is a lot of work that the office does that needs more funding. We are charged with financing gender equality across the board, so you’re talking about media campaigns, change behaviors, international observations and all these things cost money, but such a huge portion of our budget goes into the success of the programme.”

Ms. Connor said that even though the Partnership for Peace programme is a successful one, in efforts to ease the department's financial distress, the men should pay a fee for the rehabilitation services.

"This will alleviate some of the department’s stress, as their fees will contribute to the success of other projects and initiatives the department spearheads."

She noted, “These fees that they would pay would be a drop in the bucket. It wont cover the entire budget, but something. When people have to pay for something, they take it much more seriously as well.”

Ms. Connor further disclosed that the very document which speaks to the actualization of the programme makes provisions for a fee, “but we never enforced it.”

“There will be logistics in terms of getting it done from a ministerial perspective. We would have to run it by the Ministry, which is something I have already spoke to them about, but the actual paperwork for it to be done needs to be seriously considered.”

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