International day on the elimination of violence against women (Belize)

As part of activities observing sixteen days of activism to end domestic violence, the women’s department will be holding a free legal clinic at the Chateau Caribbean tomorrow. The clinic is primarily for women and men who cannot afford private attorneys. According to Icilda Humes from the Women’s Department there’s great demand for it.

Icilda Humes, Director – Women’s Department

“And the Chief Magistrate has been advocating quite heavily over the past few years for the Women’s Department to bring back free clinics so that people can assess justice. So we decided that we would give it a try as a part of sixteen days of activism, it is definitely something that will become an annual event. We are also hoping that we would be able to repeat it as a part of Women’s Month in 2010.

It is on a first come, first serve basis. We’ve had several people calling and asking if they can pre-register. No you can’t. You’ll need to show up. The hours are from 9 to 4. We have attorneys, some of whom would be there all day, we have some attorneys who are only working half day, some who have certain hours and they are going to be talking with their clients about different issues, mainly family issues and gender based violence issues. So we are talking about divorce, division of property, property rights, sexual harassment, domestic violence, child custody, child maintenance, and because these are the issues that our clients come to us with.”

Remember for the free legal advice tomorrow, it will be conducted on a first come, first serve basis at the Chateau Caribbean from 9a.m.to 4p.m. Some of the attorneys you can talk to include Magali Marin, Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Samira Musa, Tanya Moody, Melissa Balderamos, Audrey Matura–Shepherd, Darlene Vernon, Kevin Arthurs, Lisa Shoman, Ashanti Martin, Anthony Sylvestre and Diana Shaw.

http://7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=15598