Dear Editor,
The Sisters of The S4 Foundation (Stella’s Sisterhood of Support & Service Foundation) resolutely stand in solidarity with Simona Broomes, President of the Guyana Women’s Miners Organisation (GWMO), and the members of the GWMO as they face off with extreme measures to counter the good work they are doing for women and girls who are being trafficked in Guyana.
The recent arrest of Ms Broomes is a culmination of events over the past months to force her to stop the work she has been doing to rescue women and girls from being used as sex slaves against their will. She has been threatened via phone and GWMO members have been told by many that she will be “dealt with.” Authorities and ordinary people alike have suggested that Ms Broomes should not worry about the trafficking and that she should focus solely on making life better for the GWMO members. In other words, there are some who want her work of saving women from being trafficked to end.
Moreover, Ms Broomes has not received support from the ‘powers that be’ in the work she has done against trafficking. Instead, she has been harassed and her life and the lives of her members have been threatened for the good things they are doing for women. Is it not bad enough that the women of Guyana do not get the protection they need from law enforcement and the authorities (which is their lawful right)? Is it not bad enough that it has come to the point that ordinary female citizens are now the ones who have to protect women in Guyana because no one else will do it?
Now those same powers are working to harm the very women who are risking their lives to help the women they refuse to help. The Sisters of the S4 Foundation simply cannot be silent in the face such injustice. We declare that we resolutely stand hand-in-hand in solidarity with our GWMO Sisters and demand justice and safety for Simona Broomes and all of Guyana’s women. Further, it is our deep hope that the rest of Guyana’s Sisters will join hands with us and stand up for the lives of women all across the nation. It is time for the women of Guyana to live their lives without fear. Enough is enough!
Yours faithfully,
Karen Abrams
Oluatoyin Samantha Alleyne-Williams
Susanna Persuad
Janick Arjoon
Imarah Radix
Stella Ramsaroop