The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) is concerned that politicians have so far failed to address the current spate of violent acts against women.
In a release yesterday, the GHRA likened the situation in Guyana, as far as women are concerned, to the Middle East – incalculable oil wealth together with a “stone-age” attitude to women. The Association said that the “shocking upsurge” of violent murders of women by their present or former partners in Guyana over the past ten days has yet to produce any notable reaction from politicians, “perhaps too absorbed in the new oil wealth to notice the mayhem in communities.” This disconnect, it states, between political parties and electors with whom they are supposedly interacting intensively is not new.
However, the GHRA would prefer to believe the vast majority of Guyanese men feel revulsion towards the perpetrators of violence to which Guyanese women are exposed, but unfortunately however, this perception is not supported by effective action on their part. It pointed out that in the same vein, civic and faith-based institutions, administered predominantly by men, “appear equally undisturbed” by the violence which plays into the repression and subordination of women.
The Association hastened to add that there is no particular religion or sect in Guyana that supports violence against women, but is of the opinion that the phenomenon is not a sufficiently high civic priority to merit active and sustained condemnation. It observes that the subordination of women for generations remains an obstacle to their being treated with dignity.
As far as the GHRA is concerned, the assumption that disordered power in relationships can be rectified by reason and education alone, rather than through a redistribution of power, is an illusion. It explained that the empowerment of women means reducing the power exercised by men and does not necessarily imply confrontation, or ‘taking’ power from men. The goal, it says, is “a relationship in which power is subjected to principles of dignity, respect and equality in all circumstances.”
According to the GHRA, the answer to this malaise lies in society becoming more purposeful in addressing the structures that foster violence. As an example, the Association sees it as entirely feasible, to ensure that 50% of all Parliamentary seats are occupied by women. In fact it reminded that the Constitutional Reform process of 2000 approved that a minimum of fifty per cent of the names on electoral lists of each party must be female and that a minimum of one-third of the seats won must be allocated to females on the list. It however emphasised that the rule relates to the minimum and that there is nothing stopping any party – other than male inertia and lack of female mobilisation – committing itself to allocating 50% of all seats, or indeed more to women. As a consequence, Parliament would then have a critical mass of women well-placed to influence the political future of Guyana in many ways. It is the responsibility of men, the Human Rights body says, to ensure the mobilisation of women during the electoral period to achieve this goal.
The Association is well aware that this in itself is not a panacea for violence against women, but having them secure 50% of the seats is an assertion of power without generating confrontation and resentment and also provides a platform for changing attitudes. It suggested that Civic organisations including faith-based ones are well-placed to monitor such initiatives to ensure that pledges are honoured. Guyanese men owe Guyanese women nothing less.
