PRESIDENT BURTON TO PRIORITIZE ELIMINATION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Newly sworn in President of Dominica, Her Excellency Sylvanie Burton says one of her priorities is confronting the issue of the domestic violence in dominica.
President Burton was officially sworn in on Monday October 2 at the State House, one day after receiving the Dominica Award Of Honour.
During her first address as president of Dominica, Her Excellency Burton stated she will continue to be a voice for the vulnerable in society.
“One of academic training is in poverty alleviation. One of the negative consequences of poverty is the violence perpetrated against women and children, and this is an area that I have worked in over several years. I will continue to be a voice for those women and children in our community who are being violated abused and exploited. I intend to use my office to do everything that I can, to make our community one that is enlightened in its approach to resolving the issues facing our vulnerable citizens,” President Burton stated.
Her Excellency Burton stated that she will not only speak on behalf of the country’s women and children but also the young men.
“It is not only women and girls that I am referring to, because even though the issues may not be the same, our young men are equally vulnerable. This is reflected in both the enrollment numbers and the graduation numbers for the Dominica State College. This school year, 1,524 students enrolled, of that number 1,027 are female and 497 are male, and in two days, 354 students will graduate from the state college, of which 257 are female and 97 are male. The percentage is 73% female to 27% male attending and graduating from this institution,” Her Excellency Burton noted.
President Burton noted that if Dominica is to grow further as a nation, the country’s young men must be included in its development.
“This trend, ladies and gentlemen, is not sustainable if we are to achieve our full potential as a nation and will only change with targeted intervention. I believe that this disparity in the education of our young men may be directly related to the increasing disregard for the rule of law. This is a challenge that is being face d by even some of the oldest and most advanced democracies in the world. We are a very young nation and the rule of law is critically important to the stability of our fragile democracy. We cannot and must not allow a few elements in our society to threaten the peace and safety of our citizens and negatively impact our reputation as one of the safest places in the world to live,” President Burton added.