Thirty Employees Trained as Peer Educators by the GBCHA

Georgetown: The Guyana Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBCHA), through a USAID grant raises awareness of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the workplace and beyond through workplace peer education programmes.  The grant supports the work of the GBCHA to meet adults where they spend most of their time, the workplace. This project helps participants to understand gender norms and other issues related to gender based violence. Participants are also informed of where to turn to for help and anger management and conflict resolution skills.

“Workplace Education Programmes facilitate an increase in knowledge which creates a shift in attitudes related to GBV. This change will contribute to the prevention of violence and the reduction of GBV with victims as well as perpetrators being equipped to notice early signs of GBV, learn methods and strategies to counter abusive behaviour, and relevant references to seek help and deal with these issues effectively.” – Schemel Patrick, Membership Services Officer & Facilitator. 

For the year, the GBCHA has reached a total of thirty (30) peer educators from twelve (12) member organizations. The organizations reached were Banks DIH Ltd, Cara Lodge, Scotiabank, Guyana Lottery Company Limited, Edward B. Beharry & Company Ltd, Hand-In- Hand Group of Companies, Guyana Revenue Authority, National Milling Company of Guyana, Pegasus Hotel Guyana, Guyana Forestry Commission, Guyana National Shipping Corporation Ltd and Sterling Products Limited. Three trainings were held over a three- day period.

Peer educators committed to disseminating information in their workplaces and communities in an effort to reduce the prevalence of GBV in Guyana.

Ms. Patrick further stated that GBV is one of Guyana’s most prevailing social issues and that both men and women alike are unaware of healthy alternatives to abuse in order to prevent the cycle of violence, thus the GBCHA uses the successful method of workplace education developed in the HIV response to scale up the response to GBV awareness and prevention.

The GBCHA would like to thank USAID, Help and Shelter and Cara Lodge for their support. The next Peer Educator Training would be held in July.