Activist Caleb Orozco says that the Human Development Department is not doing its job. Orozco along with his team say they have gotten a number of complaints from women about their 'less than optimal' experiences at the department. One woman claims one of the male human development officers was trying to sexually exploit her. Orozco drafted a letter outlining these alleged abuses and negligence within the department. He says he sent it to CEO Judith Alpuche. We caught up with Orozco today and he says the department needs to do more to protect women and children.
Caleb Orozco, United Belize Advocacy Movement
"My organization the United Belize Advocacy Movement has been working with Tikkun Olam and its legal rights advocate Elisa Castellanos with regards to collecting client based cases from marginalized women in Orange Walk and one of the shocking things that we have discovered in collecting the data is that though the state has signed on to the convention on rights of a child and convention to eliminate the discrimination against women the state systems that exist has been faltering and lacking compassion for single women who have a certain degree of urgency. Individual women who are on the verge of losing their shelter because there is no substantive response in helping them in emergency situations for food for their children and in supporting their rent for 1 or 2 months in a short term way."
"It is alarming and a full shame that a child who was abducted could be seen as no urgency, it is damn shame that there is no urgency in investigating accusation of sexual exploitation of clients at the Human development."
Courtney Weatherburne, reporter
"The information you have gotten is that some of these same human development officers are exploiting these women, these victims?"
Caleb Orozco
"The human development officer, and officers are not only lacking compassion but the male one according to the complaints have been seeking to sexually exploit these women to retain custody of their children. For me the worst part of that is knowing that many of these cases not just the one we sent out are ignored and the victims are intimidated into silence because they know fully well that they do not have the backing of the state to further investigate these complaints."
"The idea that they would allow a human development officer to not be held accountable for his sexist, despicable way of dealing with clients and colluding against women which the state is supposed to help is not only despicable but shameful."
"In very simple terms, the human development department is not doing their job and they are allowing women and children to fall under the cracks."
"One of the big things we discover is that the human development officers do not have a thorough understanding of family law or legal matters that these women come to them for so they push them around in circles, they offer them no specific legal advice and they offer them no remedy to some of the most difficult situations that they are going through."
We reached out to CEO Alpuche and she told us that she has not gotten any letter from Orozco. As regards to the case about the male human development officer, she says that she is aware of the complaint and he is "being asked to answer the allegation as per GOB procedure." She added that attempts to contact the female complainant have been unsuccessful.
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