Dear Editor,
I wish to take time out to congratulate the Guyana Women Miners Association (GWMA) for the work it is doing to alleviate the plight of women living around, and working in the mining sector of our country. This organization, led by a brave and courageous young female miner, Simona Broomes, is less than two months old and is already making a tremendous impact in allaying the fears of women who, for years, have been experiencing some harsh and unfortunate realities while they work and live in the mining areas.
Ms. Broomes should be commended for taking on this huge challenge and it is my sincere hope that her organization will attract the necessary assistance and cooperation needed to ensure that our women folk in the mining industry are protected, respected and given their due equal status in this male dominated sector. I read with sadness some of the reports of sexual and physical violence meted out to many women who are constantly trapped in a vicious cycle of injustice. I, therefore, encourage the GWMA to continue to confront these unwarranted realities wherever they occur and remind our women that they have a right to speak out. I thank the GWMA for working in the hinterland communities to highlight and address the scourge of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against the women in those areas.
I am confident that through the work of GWMA, women who work in the mining sector will be equally respected and will be given the scope and support that they need to compete on a level playing field with their male counterparts. I salute all the women miners, for letting the world know that in Guyana women can also hold their own in the mining sector. The Women Miners Association is a beacon of hope in the mining sector, and more importantly Guyana. It should be supported and encouraged.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
