Dear Editor,
We have seen, in our small country, far too many cases of severe and deadly abuse against our mothers, sisters, aunts and friends. We have grown to accept a system that encourages against women abusive behaviours that are unacceptable, and which pave the way for deadly levels of violence to take place.
Women in Guyana have, for far too long, not been given enough attention and protect from our legal and enforcement systems. We have come to accept men speaking to women with disrespect; as if, when married, these women became their property, instead of their having entered a partnership of complementing abilities and mutual respect.
Indeed, women also contribute to this dynamic by not setting, at an early stage, the boundaries that would allow the relationship to take the right path.
I have, on many occasions, seen where men took out their frustrations on women, and expressed their dominance just because they were emboldened to so do.
According to the UN body on women’s rights, even though Guyana has a strong legal framework for the protection of women’s rights, its implementation and enforcement arms are weak and susceptible to neglect and bribery, thus Guyana is unable to make cases of abuse disappear. The responsibility is therefore vested in our legal system to drive accountability, and at the feet of our leaders to create a higher sense of awareness regarding gender-based violence, so that we can change the course of our longstanding poor behaviours towards women.
Another of our responsibilities is to empower women to take action at the slightest gesture of abuse; which should include arming them with the knowledge to detect early signs of abuse, and providing them with clear avenues to seek and obtain help. However, this is where it sometimes falls through, since many women would change their minds and turn a blind eye to the early warning signs. In many cases, women’s actions are driven by commitment to their children and other social pressures, such as what society would think and say about them.
But the sad reality is that once a space is created for abuse to take place, it is almost certain that it would escalate to a severe type of violence against females. That is why parents should do more to teach their daughters self-defence techniques such as karate, and imbue them with a higher sense of independence when married or in a relationship.
Parents also should do more to elevate the level of expectations their sons should satisfy when it comes to treating with women.
There seems to be a disparity in the way men regard women who are unrelated to them from the way they regard their mothers, sisters and other female relatives. But, in reality, there should be no difference in the way men regard all women.
In terms of leadership, we are seeing that women are doing a much better job of being leaders than men. For example, in politics, a woman leader of Germany has been showing stronger results and delivering more peace and stability than her male counterparts. We have also seen the power of Michele Obama, who has inspired women across the globe with her strength and fearless approach to challenging the status quo in regard to how women are viewed by some men.
As Guyanese, we must not accept mediocrity, but should instead strive to raise the bar in all aspects of life.
Sincerely,
Malcolm Watkins
