Emphasizes Government’s Commitment in Addressing Domestic Violence
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams attended the Safe Haven Benefit Concert at Prive Nightclub and Lounge yesterday evening joining various men and women from the community in celebrating International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women and supporting Safe Haven.
The Prime Minister, who was joined by members of her Cabinet, stressed the importance of realizing the important work that Safe Haven is doing with regards to the support they offer to victims of domestic violence. "We should remember the theme which we have laid out for ourselves when it comes to domestic violence; Don’t Turn Your Back on Domestic violence. While this is a serious issue we want to celebrate the fact that we can get together and highlight domestic violence and violence in general on St. Maarten and celebrate the organizations that combat this very serious issue. We must never become complacent on with regards to domestic abuse and the community can rest assured that Government is committed to not only support the organizations which offer support to victims of Domestic Abuse but that we ourselves are addressing this issue in depth" commented the PM.
The Prime Minister has stated previously that as long as there is violence in homes on St. Maarten there is violence that affects the community. "We need to keep the issue of domestic violence on the front burner and support the victims that may not have the opportunity to come out publically. There are people in our workplace, within our schools, churches and social circles that are experiencing domestic violence and are afraid to speak out and we should ensure that this does occur and that their plight is heard."