Dear Editor,
So impressive! The millions of women marching in America and in so many countries around the world to bring attention to their rights as well as their demands. The messages were all embracing. It was a beautiful demonstration of women of the world demanding their rights ‒ their civil, political, cultural and human rights, their right to family planning and preventative care. It was the biggest women’s demonstration ever in the world.
The feisty speakers delivered fiery, yet powerful messages characterized by strong feelings of solidarity and sisterhood, and man and woman being equal before the law and entitled to equal opportunity in every field of human endeavour. These were common features in almost every message delivered, whether by Madonna, a female ex-prisoner, an indigenous female Native American or a Congresswoman from California. The stirring up of a controversy over crowd size in relation to Obama versus Trump’s inauguration was clearly an attempt to create a distraction from the overwhelming success and the impact of the women’s marches both within and outside America.
It’s a pity we did not hear a peep on this particular day from women’s organizations in Guyana and other Caricom countries. The question being asked by many is, where do these organizations stand in respect to this global women’s tidal wave that has raised to an unprecedented level women’s demands and the struggle for their legitimate rights?
We know that almost every issue raised, whether by the militant women in the United States of America, Europe, Asia, Africa or Latin America, is the same issue, with very few exceptions, that affect women in every Caricom country, including our own Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Clement Rohee
Fmr General Secretary
People’s Progressive Party