Human Services Minister Jennifer Webster on Tuesday said men must recognise the need to treat women with
respect and protect them.
She was at the time addressing an inter-faith service in observance of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on the lawns of her Ministry at Lamaha and East streets.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) report, the activity, which was held under the theme “From peace in the home to peace in the world, let us end gender based violence,” represented the start of 16 days of activism to promote the elimination of violence against women.
Webster, in her address, noted that 10 women in Guyana have died at the hands of their partners so far in 2014 and more than 20 were killed in 2013 as a result of domestic violence. Many girls suffer emotional trauma that scars them for life due to some form of sexual abuse at home, the place where one should feel safe, she further noted.
Webster further told those gathered that men must recognise he need to treat women with respect and learn to protect and honour them.
Present at the service were staff of the ministry, non-governmental organisations, the Child Care and Protection Agency, and religious based organisations among others.
The ceremony, GINA said, included intercessions by the Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Bahai communities, songs and poetry. There was also a moment’s silence for the women who lost their lives due to domestic violence.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) country representative to Guyana Patrice La Fleur, who also spoke at the service, said violence against women, particularly girls aged 10 to 15 years, and child pregnancies must be stamped out.
Parents, she said, need to socialise their children to have mutual respect for each other and there needs to be equality in education, jobs, values and even beliefs of religious based organisations, which sometimes differentiate between gender roles.
According to the United Nations (UN), violence against women is a human rights violation that is a consequence of discrimination against women, in law and also in practice, and of persisting inequalities between men and women, which impact and impede progress. The UN further said that the violence against women affects poverty eradication, the combatting of HIV/AIDS, peace and security and it continues to be a global pandemic.
Statistics provided by the UN show 35% of women and girls globally experience some form of physical and or sexual violence in their lifetime and as many as seven in ten women in some countries face such abuse. It is also estimated that 30 million girls under the age of 15 are at risk from female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and more than 130 million girls and women have already undergone the procedure worldwide.
Further, according to the UN, 700 million women were married as children, 250 million of which were married before the age of 15. More important, UN studies show girls who are married under the age of 18 are less likely to complete their education and are more likely to experience domestic violence and complications from childbirth. These circumstances tend to have costs and consequences that lasts for generations, the UN said.
