Dear Editor,
A very close female Amerindian friend of mine recently had a most humiliating experience at the hands of some employees of the business conglomerate, Banks DIH Ltd, which left her feeling utterly demoralized and wondering whether females in this country have any rights to protect them from such abuses. The incident occurred at a grocery store in Herstelling where a Banks DIH delivery truck was delivering stocks at the same time when this female along with her brother went into the store to purchase some items.
As they were entering the yard one of the employees who was offloading the truck proceeded to make graphic sexual comments to her in the crudest and most vile manner. She initially ignored the individual since she was not certain whether he was talking to her. But he continued making all kinds of sexual innuendo. When she realized that he was speaking to her she confronted the guy and inquired how he could speak to her like that, and also expressed her dislike of what he was saying. The Banks DIH employee then got all worked up and proceeded to verbally insult the young woman especially questioning her racial profile and making many denigrating remarks about her race. The incident then escalated from this point since the guy became physically and verbally threatening towards the female. Her brother intervened and there was almost a physical altercation. My friend then told the guys that she was going to contact their employers to lodge a complaint about their behaviour and this seemed to incense the worker even further and he proceeded to further racially belittle her and told her how he didn’t care who she contacted. It must be noted that through this entire episode the other Banks DIH employee made no attempt to reprimand his colleague over his actions and was laughing throughout the incident.
The shop owner who was most upset over the incident then offered some assistance by providing a contact number for the supervisor of the delivery service. He also apologized over the incident and said that the workers deserved to face criminal charges for their actions.
My female friend made contact with the supervisor who said that she would talk to the workers to find out what transpired. Approximately fifteen minutes later the supervisor sent a text message stating that she was heading to Linden and that she had asked someone else to further investigate the matter. The text also included an apology from Banks DIH over the incident. Stunned by such a form of response, my understandably upset friend replied to the text stating that she was not satisfied with the way she had received her response, especially in light of the public humiliation she experienced. She never received any further reply from the supervisor or the person supposedly undertaking the investigation.
It is absolutely unbelievable that in this day and age when there are so many laws in place to protect females from such actions that a mega company such as Banks DIH could have treated this whole incident so casually. Imagine that more than 48 hours later no effort was made to contact the female to hear her story or even have a PR person come and meet her to offer some kind of assurance that the matter would be dealt with professionally and expeditiously. A text message on behalf of Banks DIH would most definitely not suffice in this case and is a further insult to this female.
If women’s rights are to be taken seriously then it is the responsibility of the corporate giants to take the lead in such changes. Their employees, especially those in the public eye on a daily basis, should know their limits and some amount of professionalism should be instilled into them. If they transgress, as this employee did, then immediate action should be taken against the individual.
Accosting an innocent female without her consent and then abusing her verbally and racially almost to the point of physical altercation are all grounds for criminal charges in today’s world. It seems that neither the employee nor by extension, his employers, seem aware of this fact.
The whole incident has left my female friend understandably upset and wondering whether there is anywhere in Guyana where her rights as a citizen of this country, an innocent female and a proud Amerindian, would be accorded their true status.
Banks DIH has left a major negative impression of their company over this incident, not only by the actions of their employee but also their own actions in dealing with the complaint made to them. They have failed an innocent female who uses their products. They have failed a female who, by law, has rights which were trampled upon by the company. They have failed an Amerindian who should never have been made to feel that she is less than anyone else because of her race.
Yours faithfully,
M Abraham
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Banks DIH for any comment they might wish to make.
