by Jolene Toves

Guam - Speaker Judi Won Pat is speaking out over recent events involving violence against our children and women. In an address, Won Pat says she is horrified by the current state our island saying it's in a state of crisis. She not only urges parents to be more involved but for the community to look out for all children.

"So we need to bring the entire community together because it's going to take everyone, GPD, law enforcement, the courts, it's going to take social services, education, the mayors, front line so we're all going to have to be involved in this," she stated. "I'm hoping to bring everyone together to look at the increase in violence and find out what it is that we need to do to address those."

She adds while an initial concern over violence against women and young girls was once brought up when talks of the military buildup started, she says the concern has since expanded within in our own community. And while she agrees that migrants who are frequently committing crimes should be deported, she says it is short-sighted of us to focus our blame on one group of people. She ultimately suggests not only focusing on bringing all perpetrators to justice, but also protecting the rights of victims.

Won Pat adds once session concludes at the end of this month, she hopes to hold a roundtable with the different stakeholders.