 Members, I believe that when we rose, Senator Jawahi was in the process of making a presentation, so you may continue, Senator. Thank you, Mr. President. If I could please share my voice with the colleague Senator who went before me to extend condolences to the family of Officer Timet. There are a lot of members in the police force that I am related to and when you think of people losing their lives, people who stand, who risk their lives to protect us and they have lost theirs, it's not a pleasant feeling at all. And I know last night there was a church service for him at the Grand Evere Catholic Church. He was very involved with the youth group up in the north and to his family, his friends, the police force and everyone else who would have known him. I want to share my condolences. Mr. President, today is truly a historic day because it is today we seek the support of this Honorable House to pass this long-awaited domestic violence bill. And for me today I want to embark on a bit of a very brief education campaign because I believe that there are significant parts of this bill that need to be highlighted at this point. So I will not keep anybody waiting any longer because I am also eager to celebrate of our people who have been waiting for this bill to pass after 28 years. As we dive into this bill and look at the explanation or definition for domestic violence, we see that it speaks of violence in the form of harm, injury, danger to health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical. Mental or physical, Mr. President. And I want to highlight mental because abuse comes in many forms. When we define it in this bill, we talk of physical abuse which can be sexual, forced, harmful, as I mentioned earlier, and even damage to property, scratching of a car, flattening the tires, throwing away the belongings, burning the clothes. All of these are forms of abuse. But Mr. President, many solutions believe that they are parts of this bill that stands out to them because they did not believe prior that there was a bill that could help protect them from mental abuse. This also comes in many forms, Mr. President, and they can include threats, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, intimidation, harassment, stalking. You know, we have social media, everybody on Facebook will send a message. Stalking can include cyber stalking and economic abuse. Mr. President, this last one I find a lot of our people are going through, especially during these days. And it was only a few days ago, a young lady called me crying. And I could not even make out her words until I was able to calm her down for a bit. She was crying. Her boyfriend had forced her to resign from her job. He said he would pay the bills because she has a child with him. But because she decided to not do something that he really wanted her to do, he did not buy food for the house. He did not pay the bills. The rent is overdue. The child's school is still unpaid. And she's unemployed. Crying, Mr. President, feeling like she has no way out because there is the avoidance to pay these financial obligations, to exploit her for sex, economic abuse, Mr. President. And then there's the other side to it. A side of domestic abuse that if spoken about, one would experience ridicule, shame. And Mr. President, when this bill came to the lower house on Tuesday, I received a number of calls from men. I received a number of calls and messages from men. And I saw their comments online because this bill they felt was very important to them as well. Yes, men also have suffered abuse. But Mr. President, what was even more surprising with the stories told by these men of emotional abuse that they suffer from their partners, the type of abuse that attacks their emotional well-being, the insults, ridiculing, name-calling. And we know in St. Lucia, name-calling is hardly a thing that is positive. But Mr. President, I am appreciative of this bill and I'll tell you why, because I believe that it is an inclusive bill. And just like it is supporting, providing support for our women and our children, it also is providing further protection of the law for our men. What we see, Mr. President, as I said, is an inclusive bill. It looks at domestic violence on a whole, whether the survivor is a man, woman or child. It is for every St. Lucia, regardless of gender. And I also noted members from the LGBTQ community who were present in the house on Tuesday to support the bill. Mr. President, Ms. Jessica Centrose, I just wanted to highlight her today. She was president. She was present. A young lady I admire so much because of her drive. How she is motivated and encourages people with her personal stories and continues to advocate for equality for all. I know that this bill meant a lot to Jessica. Mr. President, when I invited Devonte to this house, some people had all kinds of things to say, to suggest that it is for sure and our government is truly not inclusive. But for us, Mr. President, it is more than just talk. It is action. It is more than just talk and appearances. It is action because this bill can tell us that. Not just the talk that we are government of inclusivity, but the action that after today it will be law that every single member of our society will have the protection of the law if they suffer any form of domestic abuse. Under section 5 of this bill, we see specific mention of non-discrimination of victims. No matter the race, the color, language, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation or gender, this bill provides protection for all. And just like my fellow colleague Senator said earlier, it was only last year I was nominated as a CPA, UK gender champion. Which means that my role has to be inclusive to advocate for anyone no matter their gender and to work with our lawmakers to ensure we pass gender-sensitive legislation. Mr. President, I took up this role because I believe in the fundamental human rights of our people. I believe in our fundamental rights to live freely and have equal access to resources, particularly for their safety. And that is why it makes me so very proud today, very proud that this is being achieved. I remember a few years ago when I first started and I learnt about this domestic violence bill, sitting on the desk of the former Prime Minister, the current leader of the opposition. Mr. President, I have to say I was very disappointed. There were consultations in January of 2020 and the United Workers Party had enough time to bring this bill through. A bill which was first presented in the Sponelable House in 1994. This year makes it 28 years, but this was not a priority for the previous administration. Then Tuesday, Mr. President, two days ago, finally the bill is here and it has been brought to the House through the Minister for Gender Affairs. And can you imagine that when the call was made for the bill to go through its remaining stages, the leader of the opposition said no. A big no to a bill that has been circulating for almost three decades. A big no because it sat on his desk from since when he came into office. It was not a priority for him, Mr. President. I have to state that I truly was very disappointed because on Tuesday what it meant for people like myself, for people like the young lady I spoke about, for Jessica, for Devonte, it was a day that meant everything to us, especially to our women who celebrated International Women's Day. A day that could go beyond, that went beyond political parties, it went beyond political color, a day that meant the most to our men who finally believed that they have some protection under our law. And Mr. President, if you said you care as the former Prime Minister of our great country, why didn't you even contribute to the bill? You did not speak. You left the chamber and I asked myself, why, what was all of this commotion about on Tuesday? Because I thought there was going to be a contribution, certainly a missed opportunity. And clearly, if it was a matter of priority, we would have seen some sort of contribution. But anyways, Mr. President, it was an opportunity for the members to be on the right side of history and pass a bill or share their voices on a bill that will protect all of us, your daughters, your sons, your mothers, your fathers, every single St. Lucian. And instead, we see people protesting. We see people protesting for illegality and criminality to continue when the one who is supposed to lead the flock and speak on behalf of this bill that provides protection for even those people out there, there was absolutely no comment. But Mr. President, I don't know why you left, but what I can tell you is that I believe it was certainly a missed opportunity for a call for unity. This bill right here, Mr. President, is an opportunity now for members opposite who are present to say that we need to play our parts in fighting this scourge of crime. You think because you are in opposition that crime doesn't affect you? It doesn't matter. It can happen anyway and at any time. But Mr. President, it is finally here. And it is more than a feeling of protection. It is about action. And I want to draw your attention to page 17 of the bill, part one, which speaks of the administration and the powers given to the minister. More than a feeling, Mr. President, because we see the role of the minister is to develop and implement coordinated cross-government policies to prevent acts of domestic violence. Cross-government, Mr. President, because our health workers who work in the Ministry of Health, they will be getting the training so they know how to best handle cases of domestic violence. Cross-government, because the police will have a better understanding of how to manage reports when a domestic violence case is brought before them. And especially learning how to keep the survivors' information confidential. Cross-government, Mr. President, because training will happen for even magistrates for hearing of domestic violence cases. All of this is very significant in ensuring that the process from the moment the act is being reported to justice for the victim, this is one where every single individual who is involved in the process would have received training, and it is the duty of the minister to ensure that this goes. I just wanted to highlight that. The minister is also responsible for ensuring that there is access to services for victims. Oftentimes, things happen. The Human Services Department is closed at five o'clock. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that when something happens on an evening, at least somebody is taken care of. And I remember a conversation with fellow colleague Senator Alvino who was given an example of a situation that took place where she had to get involved when she was the minister at the time to ensure that this family had protection. Mr. President, another important part of this bill that I wanted to share is that we know our resources are strained. And in addition to that, the minister for gender relations when she brought the bill to the house on Tuesday expressed that yes, she is going to do her best to get that sort of information and funding that we need to ensure that this is passed. We know our resources are strained. But Mr. President, it is important for us to pass this bill because it will certainly send a loud message to the world, especially agencies like the UN who advocate for the achievement of sustainable goal number five, which is the complete elimination of domestic violence and of course providing opportunities for our women and girls and for their empowerment. Mr. President, there are agencies who have been waiting for countries like St. Lucia to comply so that funding can be accessed and the minister for gender correctly stated that beautifully on Tuesday that these resources will be tapped into. So I feel very confident and I feel very happy, Mr. President, that yes, we are passing this bill but it is more than talk, it is action. Now, under section six of this bill, prohibition of acts of violence, of domestic violence, and I really want the persons who are at home through you, Mr. President, to pay particular attention to this. We see that a person who contravenes the law is liable on summer conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment of up to five years or both. $10,000 or five years in prison or both. And that sends a very strong message, Mr. President, that this is something very serious. So whether it be physical abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, the perpetrator can be liable to pay this fine or imprisonment of up to five years. Mr. President, as the Minister for Gender Affairs said, one of the next steps that we must do as a government will be to embark on an education campaign. I highlighted a few things but I know my other colleagues have a lot more to say in terms of tackling other parts of this bill. We need to embark on a solid education campaign across ministries and with the general public. So our people know that this is a very important matter. And this domestic violence bill, Mr. President, is clearly part of the government's strategy to tackle crime, especially with the advent of COVID-19. We are seeing tremendous increase in domestic violence. We are seeing a tremendous increase in crime. For this bill to come into the house as the St. Lucia Labour Party government promised it would do in the first year and to enact this bill, I believe it is a significant stride in tackling crime. And I want to make a special appeal to the members opposite for your unwavering support of this bill. Because like I said earlier, crime has no face. It doesn't choose. It can happen to any one of us. I thank you. Senator Polios. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, as an opposition senator, a female parliamentarian and scrutiny of the policies and legislation of this government, I am duty bound to interrogate the intentions of this government in the domestic violence bill currently being tabled to examine the bill with a fine tooth comb and to ensure that all elements, relevant sectors and groups are adequately considered. And if such be the case, lend my support to this piece of legislation. This is what best practice demands of us as parliamentarians and not just to oppose for the mere thrill of opposition. Mr. President, the issue of domestic violence is one that impacts every single one of us. Either directly or indirectly. It is a societal ill that has plagued this country for eons and it continues to terrorize us to this very day. The recent upsurge in our domestic crime rate exemplifies and not only calls for appropriate legislation, Mr. President, but more importantly, consistency and transparency in its enactment. Mr. President, while I notice a major thrust on the home and the leader of government business alluded to it, we need to look at the bigger picture of a home country, St. Lucia. Let us not forget that the family, the home, is a microcosm of the larger society and what happens in the home, in the family is a reflection and representation of the larger society, St. Lucia, the country in which we live. So every effort, Mr. President, must be made by all of us parliamentarians included to ensure the safety of every single boy and girl, man and woman in this country. Mr. President, having coined this domestic bill, domestic violence bill, I must admit that it is not only comprehensive in its definitions and interpretation of the term domestic violence, but it is also timely and the leader of government business and my fellow colleague senator who went before me articulated the very same. So yes, on one hand, this piece of legislation and the proposed amendments as a whole is perceived as momentous. We cannot run away from it. It's a fact. Particularly as it coincides with the observance of international women's day on March 8th. And this is something that is being observed and celebrated globally. On the other hand, Mr. President, and this is the sad part, you know, the passing of this domestic violence bill is a glaring contradiction and perfect example of the duplicity of a Labour Party administration. And it is a further insult to the intelligence of the sons and daughters of fair Helen, St. Lucia. I listened to my fellow colleague talk about some of her disappointment and even some of the statements that she made regarding domestic violence and the different forms of abuse. And I am baffled. I'm really baffled. And I ask myself, am I really hearing this? It is the same Labour Party who bydined of the man's skin colour in so many ways tried to humiliate him, the leader of the opposition. Isn't it? He's a white prime minister. Yet we interact with the white people all over the globe to get business done in our country. We need revenue. It is the same Labour Party administration that made all kinds of colour statements. Isn't this psychological manipulation and abuse? Isn't it? We need to take a deeper look at what we say. Not because someone is in a different camp or not affiliated to your political party that you believe that you have the latitude to intimidate and to harm emotionally and psychologically. Many years ago, and I'm sure of recency, many of our Saint Lucians and our leaders have received threats by some leaders, in some cases, despondent, afraid for their lives because they have been threatened by other politicians. Where are they now? Where are they now? Mr President, imagine that on Tuesday, March 8th, to be exact, on Tuesday, the very same day when this bill, the domestic violence bill was being tabled in the lower house, a well-known supporter of the party and media personality charged with, you know, so much venom and rage and we wanted to physically assault a United Workers' Party supporter outside of Parliament in full view of several police officers. This is not a form of domestic violence. As outlined in this bill, then I would appreciate if... Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I believe that Senator is, is, first of all, attempting to... Just a second, Senator, could you turn your mic off, please? You may proceed. Yes, Mr President, and I am referring to section 37.1 in the Standing Orders, which speaks to the content of the presentation. I've heard two separate references being made to matters that, first of all, are not tabled here and the government that is tabling this is in no way associated or...