Dear Editor
The 2020 statement from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security for International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls concludes in the opening paragraph ‘.. but still, not many women admit to being victims of violence”
The statement however, does not address anything about abusive men and women being held accountable for their violence. The statement does not acknowledge the systemic issues which trap women in abusive relationships, and the inability of the society to deal with the hatred of the feminine which is masked as ‘love’.
The statement, like so many others which aim to deal with violence against women and girls, does not address ‘gender inequality ‘ in it. It does not use the word ‘transform’ .. it does not talk about dismantling patriarchy. The Ministry, like so many other organisations which have gotten on board to ‘help women and girls’ want to do so, it seems by hoping that we can end violence against women and girls if only those who uphold patriarchy (the belief that what is masculine is dominant over what is not masculine), and want to preserve gender inequalities, if only they could do so without being violent towards women and girls. And that it is up to the women and girls who are experiencing violence, to first admit and then try to navigate the systems populated by people who believe that if only women and girls don’t talk so much, or they remain subdued and quiet, men would not be abusive.
Billions of dollars have already been spent. But really and truly, zero funding is required to hold people – men – accountable. Zero funding is required for example to exclude men who have contempt for women, and men who have allegations of child sexual abuse against them from the election lists for the White House or for Parliament Buildings/Arthur Chung Convention Centre. Zero funding is required to recognise the irony of the energy of dual citizenship of elected leaders being more than the energy of expecting that the elected leaders would have zero tolerance for violence against women and children. Zero funding is required when after training after training after training, there are no mechanisms to hold police or social workers or other duty-bearers accountable. Zero funding is required for example for marketing agencies and media to embrace gender equality, to understand how they sustain the dominance. Zero funding is required for religious leaders to say enough is enough, to stop trying to preserve abusive relationships and hope that things will change, to stop preaching ‘women must submit to thy husband’ and the similar tenets while hoping that the violence will stop.
Zero funding is required to recognise that we are not going to end violence against women and girls until we change our attitudes to violence, until we stop beating children as a form of discipline, until we really recognise that what we consider masculine should be equal to what is not masculine.
Yours faithfully,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
