Social Protection Ministry mum on violence against women –Manickchand

The Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) has revealed that 30.8 per cent of persons in Guyana condone – approve or understand – violence against women, a recent LAPOP report said and Shadow Education Minister Priya Manickchand has expressed concern that the responsible Ministry is silent on the matter.
According to the LAPOP report, Americas Barometers Insights 2016, on average across 16 countries, one out of four individuals either approves or understands a man hitting his wife if she neglects household chores. On this particular issue Guyana ranked third, right behind Suriname which has a 43.7 per cent acceptance rate for violence against women. The top ranking country was Guatemala which has a 53.9 per cent tolerance rate.
The report stated that women, those in the oldest age cohorts, those with more years of schooling, those in urban areas, and those who are wealthier, are less likely to accept spousal violence against women. It also added that stress and dislocation matter – individuals whose households are facing economic hardship and those who intend to live or work abroad – are more likely to accept spousal violence against women.
Recently, the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) disclosed that the highest level of acceptance of wife beating occurs in the Indigenous communities, with one in every four adults believe that it is justifiable to hit the woman. There were high incidence rates in Regions Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo), One (Barima-Waini), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni). It underscored that domestic violence is more accepted among those living in the rural areas than those living in urban settlements, for both men and women. Further, it stated that it is also highly prevalent in the poorest of families.
The report stated that overall, 10 per cent of men and women between 15 and 49 years old believe it is justifiable for a husband to hit his wife if she goes out without telling him, neglects the children, argues with him, refuses sex or if she burns the food.
Manickchand highlighted that while gender-based violence is not unique to Guyana, the Social Protection Ministry, which has responsibility over women rights, has opted to remain mum on the matter.
She stated that violence against women occurs because of the prevailing inequality of gender, in which people generally believe that men are superior and women are inferior. Therefore, she said it is imperative to change the perspective of “our population and educate our youths”.
Manickchand emphasised that she has seen no effort carried out by the Ministry to fight the scourge, adding that the Ministry has to stop being silent and address the issue on the frontline.
Nevertheless, she indicated that this issue cannot be tackled alone by one Ministry instead it has to be multisectoral.
“No one Ministry can address this issue… we need the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security and the Private Sector,” she said, adding that the Education Ministry needs to be incorporated into that Ministry to teach young children that violence should not be condoned.
“We don’t want them to grow up in the same culture, and the harmfulness of violence,” she noted, stating that the Police Officers should be educated and responsive to complaints made by victims of domestic violence.
Manickchand further stated that Guyana needs to empower its women, educate them on their independence and create opportunities for them to be independent.
In the last eleven months, 14 women were murdered by the spouse, boyfriend or ex-lover. UNICEF stated that domestic violence has a straight connection to gender-based violence. “Between 2006 and 2007, there was an estimated 50 per cent increase in the total number of GBV victims, 3600 more than the previous year,” it said, adding that the largest increase was recorded in Berbice (Regions Five and Six), where reported cases rose steeply from approximately 300 in 2006 to 1890 in 2007, representing a 500 per cent increase.
It stated that a combination of social norms and social and cultural practices have been identified as the main factors that influence violence against women. It added that lack of punishment for those men that perpetrate violence against women was appointed as one factor that reinforces violent acts in the country, contending that between January and November of 2015, 582 cases of domestic violence were reported in Berbice, from these, 326 reached the court, and only 17 men were convicted.
According to LAPOP, policies and programmes that increase education, economic opportunities, and social stability are key to shifting norms with respect to tolerance for domestic violence.
“These broader efforts might be pursued alongside more targeted programmes that seek to empower women while encouraging men to curb their comparatively higher degree of tolerance for domestic violence against women,” it stated.