The Office of Gender Affairs and His Majesty’s Prison have held discussions on gender-related initiatives and training for staff and inmates at the institution.

Director of the Office of Gender Affairs Ms. Patricia Hackett said the discussions were fruitful and that she envisions a long-term partnership with His Majesty's Prison that can drive gender-related affairs in the carceral system.

“This meeting was a good and positive meeting. I can see a good partnership coming out of it with the prison service and the Office of Gender Affairs, Ministry of Health and Social Development. I think it's a good idea for us to introduce the Partnership for Peace: A Violence Intervention Programme again in the prison,” Ms. Hackett said.

The Gender Affairs Director added, ”I think it is also a good idea for us to conduct sessions on gender awareness in the workplace to give people a perspective of the importance of gender-related issues and gender and development in the workplace. So, I can see this initiative going further.”

Meanwhile, Superintendent of His Majesty’s Prison Mr. Jay Kendall said this partnership is part of the prison's mandate to rehabilitate inmates and allow for functioning members of society once released and also allows a smooth reintegration process.

Mr. Kendall said, “It was a very positive meeting in terms of planning staff training around gender awareness and hopefully to roll that out to some prisoners and a really good discussion around Partnership for Peace and hopefully we can launch that soon for both male and female prisoners."

The Superintendent added, “We look forward to building our rehabilitation programmes and combine what we do in terms of vocational skills and qualifications for prisoners but also expanding that into offending behaviour and change modification programmes.”

In addition, Gender Mainstream Lead in the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office Ms. Maria Stanley said the meeting was a great way to see stakeholders come together to look for ways to progress on all matters relating to gender equality and equity.

The Ministry of Health and Social Development through its subsidiaries, the Office of Gender Affairs and His Majesty’s Prison, remains committed to advancing gender equality and equity in the Virgin Islands.