By Sireesha Bobbili & Ruth Rodney
Sireesha Bobbili and Ruth Rodney are UN Women consultants who developed the qualitative research component of the Women’s Health and Life Experiences Survey in Guyana. They collected and analyzed qualitative data from across the country, authored the qualitative report and contributed to the authorship of the primary report. Additionally, the researchers were awarded a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support the dissemination of report results.
“I think it’s just a thing that has been handed down from generation; it’s taboo to say that anything is wrong with your marriage because you’re less than perfect. I don’t think it’s religious because no religion tells you to stay home and get beaten up – Islamic, Hinduism…I don’t think it’s any of that, but I think it has to do with how our women has been taught from their mothers onwards…you know, you have to do things a certain way, you have to conform.” (Female, Health Professional Interview A)
We are in the midst of a crisis. Frequent stories about the abuse of women litter the media, indicating the widespread nature of violence against women. However, we did not possess adequate evidence to understand the extent of the problem. Until now.
On Wednesday, November 13th, the Ministry of Social Protection launched the Guyana Women’s Health and Life Experiences Survey Report. This study, funded by UN Women, UNDP, USAID and the Inter-American Development Bank, includes a quantitative, or numbers component, and a qualitative, or conversational component, which explore the nature of violence against women (VAW) in the country. In addition to the abovementioned report, Women’s Health and Life Experiences: A Qualitative Research Report on Violence Against Women in Guyana was also released on November 13th. This report provides detailed national data to support the primary report by describing ‘why’ and ‘how’ women experience violence in their relationships.
To address VAW, we first of all need to fully understand the problem. VAW is a common issue on a global scale as well as in the Caribbean, with 1 in three women (33%) experiencing violence in a relationship at some point in their lifetime. In comparison, research results from Guyana are quite shocking. More than half of Guyanese women (55%) who have been in a relationship have experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. This means that over half of the women in Guyana have endured economic, physical, emotional, and/or sexual violence, which is much higher than the Caribbean average.
Even more interesting is the fact that VAW does not discriminate. It affects Guyanese women of all ages, ethnicities, education levels, religions and economic statuses. As a result, women from a diversity of backgrounds are impacted by VAW in some way.
Gender Inequality & Gender Norms
Research results show that gender inequality is at the root of VAW. Gender inequality is defined as providing people with different opportunities, privileges and power based on perceived (not necessarily true) differences based on gender. These perceived differences may be learned from values and ideas taught to us by our families and communities and may lead both men and women to play distinct roles in society: “too many women [are] trapped in this backward house life. Man brings home the bacon. Woman stays home, maintain six paces behind. Takes orders. Takes care of the children and makes sure that ‘dinner’s on the table when I get home’ and they get into that. They aspire to that. They look for a man to provide. And a lotta these men seek out such a woman” (Male, Magistrate Interview C)
Participants believe that gender norms are learned at a young age: “silently men were grown up to feel, ‘look I am superior’ though it was never said in a vocal way and never taught in school but he was brought up knowing that, you know, you should always be the head of the home managing things.” (Male, Religious Leader Interview A). As a result, traditional gender norms are observed in the home and community, clearly identifying the roles that men and women should play and how they should interact with each other.
Although traditional gender norms may convey harmful expectations and responsibilities for both men and women, results show that the majority of Guyanese women hold these values. For instance, 83% of women think that men should be the head of the household while 78% believe that women should take care of the home. At the same time, results also show that 88% of Guyanese women believe that women and men should share authority in the household.
These contradictory ideas about gender are thought to contribute to VAW in Guyana. One research participant described men as increasingly trying to maintain control of their families because ideas about gender roles are changing “He’s like controlling finance, the time, the socialization cut and you find that the whole power struggle, the whole power struggle with their husband, he’s the boss” (Female, Health Professional Focus Group C, Participant 3). Another participant identified this shift for Guyanese men as a contributing factor for violence: “And now that they’re losing their grip on this (often violence is an expression of their frustration) how is it affecting women?” (Male, Magistrate Interview C).
Role of the Community
Guyanese society tends to think about VAW as a private matter, a situation that is only influenced by the two people involved. However, the community at large is also integral to the occurrence, re-occurrence and prevention of VAW.
We need to understand the extent to which survivors rely on community supports and services to address VAW. Results indicate that important and much needed supports for survivors and perpetrators are offered by the community, including family, friends, casual acquaintances, neighbours, co-workers and faith communities. For instance, religious leaders are typically approached, however their assistance may not always be helpful: “But when you talk about a pastor, an Imam, or a Pandit, people may go to these people because these are people that go to their homes or they go to Church, Mandir, Masjid whatever…so there is a level of confidence and trust in these people, so they may go to them with their problems and whether or not they get help depends on who you’re going to” (Female, Health Professional Interview A).
Gossiping
Similarly, the community at large can have a negative effect on VAW. We need to understand the negative role that gossip may play. Gossiping was identified as a risk factor that may instigate VAW, particularly gossiping among men. It also has a destructive impact on women, who attempt to maintain a respectable image in society. Results indicate that idle gossip has resulted in incorrect information being conveyed about women, leading to men feeling pressure to protect their masculinity: “A man’s wife might be at work, she’s innocent, but then he listens to people so if somebody now says something to him he might be annoyed and just go home and he beats her” (Female, Police Focus Group A, Participant 2). Interestingly, the legitimacy of the information may not be questioned by the men involved, however the speculation about a woman’s personal dealings may instigate VAW. When masculinity is threatened in Guyana, results indicate it is acceptable for other men to encourage VAW to ensure authority and control is maintained in a relationship. This is extremely alarming. In addition, women may feel shame or stigma when gossip arises.
Social Media
We must also understand the various ways we may be contributing to the revictimization of survivors. An interesting result shows that social media concerning VAW may have a negative impact on survivors. Although various electronic VAW campaigns have profiled stories about survivors to raise awareness about the devastating impacts of VAW, social media platforms have also been used to share unauthorized reports, photos and videos of VAW online: “It exposes the situation because when you
put it on the social media, everyone would see then someone would query about it so…it would cause embarrassment, sometimes, the woman might feel embarrassed to know that her husband beat her then videos or photos with her black and blue skin or whatever is on the social media, because everybody seeing. And that can cause her to lead to suicide because she might be ashamed or she might be embarrassed” (Female, Police Focus Group A, Participant 2). As a result, unauthorized media may actually revictimize and further traumatize survivors, leading to development or intensification of mental health issues. In severe cases, women may attempt suicide.
What can we do?
The evidence provided by the recently released reports confirms what many professionals who work with survivors already know: VAW is complex and impacts everyone. With these results, we are now in a position to develop more focused strategies to address VAW in Guyana. Although VAW may seem challenging to tackle, there are many simple steps that we can all take to prevent or reduce VAW in our communities.
VAW is not a women’s problem. It is a human rights issue. Men and boys have a critical role to play in addressing gender inequality, which is at the root of VAW.
Examine the gender norms that you follow in your relationships with your partner, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, grandchildren, neighbours, colleagues and anyone around you. For example, how do you think men and women are supposed to act? Do these ideas about gender have a positive or negative impact?
Discuss gender expectations with your family and friends. Ensure the men and boys in your life are involved. Develop strategies to address unequal gender norms in your home. For example, rotate chores among sons and daughters so that both boys and girls are encouraged to cook and clean as well as pursue higher education. Inspire young people to explore professions in various fields based on interests rather than limiting options to traditional gender expectations (e.g. nursing for women and policing for men).
We all have a role to play in preventing VAW. As community members, we can prevent VAW from occurring by refraining from gossiping about the personal lives of women, men and their relationships.
When friends, family, neighbours or colleagues gossip about the personal affairs of others, discourage this behaviour. Ask those involved to think about how they would feel if untrue stories were being shared about their own lives. Encourage men and women to discuss what is being said instead of resorting to violence.
Do not share stories, videos, photos or other media about VAW on social media as this can revictimize survivors of violence. If this material is shared with you, delete and report to the social media platform (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) as offensive material to encourage its removal. Additionally, if photos, videos or audio are circulated to you on Whatsapp, remember this violates the rights of the persons in the video. This material should not be shared and deleted immediately.
We are all responsible for curtailing VAW in our communities, men and women alike. Reducing gender inequality in Guyana is possible. Let us recognize all forms of VAW and hold each other accountable for our roles which may contribute to VAW. Let us work together to prevent VAW by breaking down traditional gender norms in society.
Both reports can be found on the UN Women website: https://caribbean.unwomen.org/en/materials/publications/2019/11/womens-health-and-life-experiences-a-qualitative-research-report-on-violence-against-women-in-guyana
