Our Work
Women Empowerment
We empower abused and vulnerable women to take charge of their lives and excel.
According to the World Bank the poverty rate in Guyana stood at 15.82% (30th June, 2021). According to the United Nations, poverty is the state of being poor and entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Poverty in Guyana is defined as earning less than USD $1.00 (GYD $209.00) a day. As at the World Bank’s 2021 statistics, Guyana’s overall poverty rate stands at 43.4% of the population where persons receive less than USD $5.50 a day (GYD $1,151.19).
Overcrowding affects mothers, more so single mothers wherein it prevents access to social and economic resources and increases their responsibilities in the home as thirty-three point five percent (33.5%) are spear headed by a female, leads to depression, suicide, and many other socioecological factors.
The pressure that is placed on mothers and fathers, sometimes lead to the demand of the children in the household, depending on their age, to seek employment, a form of entrepreneurship or prostitution to assist in providing for the family
Households Spearheaded by a Female
2009 | World Bank
1 in every 2 women in Guyana has or will experience Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The first comprehensive national survey on gender-based violence in Guyana revealed that more than half (55%) of all women experienced at least one form of violence. More than one in ten have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a male partner in the past 12 months.
The scourge of Gender-based Violence (GBV) extends beyond partner-inflicted violence:
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1 in 5 (or 20 per cent of) women in Guyana has experienced non-partner sexual abuse in their lifetime.
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13 per cent reported experiencing this abuse before the age of 18.
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Being young is the most significant risk factor for non-partner sexual violence (NPSV), including rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching and sexual harassment.
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The 15–24 age group reported statistically higher rates of NPSV of every type (the 55–64 age group reported the least).
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Experienced at least one form of abuse
Prostitution is not a calculated or conscious choice.
This profession can arise from the result of extreme poverty, or they were forced or coerced by a pimp or by human trafficking. Underlying issues such as childhood trauma, i.e., molestation and sexual abuse, drug addiction and other relevant unfortunate circumstances can also be deciding factors into prostitution. It also reflects the continuing treatment of women as sex objects, and it provides an alternative or additional source of income. It reflects the economic inequality in society. Many poor females are compelled to become prostitutes to support their households.
UNAIDS estimates that there are estimated 6,000 prostitutes in Guyana.