Saint Lucia
Population size:
183,600 [1]
Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:
2010 report by UN Development Program, 11,000 male and female adults were interviewed, 9.7% had experienced some form of physical violence by a member of their household. [2]
Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:
No research.
Estimated % change due to COVID-19:
No research.
Current law and policy:
The Minister for Gender Relations, Dr Gale Rigobert, called on stakeholders to ensure that new draft legislation on domestic violence was finalised (March 2020) [3]. Speaking in July 2020 the Minister of Gender relations Dr Gale Rigobert stated that violence against women is a major challenge and victims of domestic violence suffer in isolation and silence. [4]
Furthermore, in July 2020, the Minister, remarked that the department of Gender Relations had been working to further strengthen the legal framework and that that it was in the process of drafting a range of legislation concerning vulnerable women and dealing with crimes against women and children . [5]
In addition to this the Minister called upon the general public to play their part in ending gender-based violence whilst also encouraging victims to use the services of the Women’s Support Centre crisis hotline . [6]
Frontline Services:
Raise Your Voice St Lucia - http://www.ryvslu.org - raiseyourvoiceslu@gmail.com
Sacred Sports Foundation - http://www.sacredsportsinc.com - delroy@sacredsportsinc.com
St Lucia Crisis Centre - https://slucrisiscentre.com - stluciacrisis@gmail.com
100 Women Who Care St Lucia - http://www.100womenwhocarestlucia.com - Point of Contact: Valerie Jenkinson, jenkinsonv@gmail.com
Sources
[1] Worldometer, “Saint Lucia Population (Live)”, (worldometers.info)
[2] https://www.refworld.org/docid/568e2bd14.html
[3] https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=663505424403065
[4] https://www.sistersforchange.org.uk/where-we-work/st-lucia/