Today is Human Rights Day. It was on this day, 72 years ago, that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Also called the Charter of Human Rights, it is a document that declares the inalienable rights every single person is entitled to, regardless of race, colour, gender, creed, politics, or status. This year it is being observed under the theme: ‘Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights’, in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Today is also the last day of the annual 16 days of activism against gender-based violence during which the call is to ‘orange the world’ to bring attention to this plague. This international campaign begins on November 25, designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on December 10. Started by the Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991, it is now coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. While the idea is to use the 16 days to heighten awareness of the global scourge that is gender-based violence towards ramping up the response to, prevention and elimination of it, by no means is there any implication that activism against this blight on the world that strips women and girls of their human rights, should begin or end during this period. On the contrary, action towards ending gender-based violence is a full-time occupation that must transcend age, race, colour, creed, politics, or status because the scourge it is seeking to end is no respecter of any of these.
This year, the United Nations Secretary-General’s ‘UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women’ campaign, which was launched in 2008, and which supports the 16 Days of Activism, called on governments, civil society, the private sector, and individuals to increase action and funding. It had been noted months ago that COVID-19 was causing an escalation in the violence meted out to women and girls. The confinement forced by lockdown and social isolation meant that women and girls were not only exposed to increased physical, mental, sexual, and financial violence, but were also unable to access the assistance normally available since some of the institutions providing same had initially been closed as well. Even as countries scrambled to respond to COVID-19, it was immediately obvious that a lapse in these services could prove catastrophic in the long run.
Globally, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner, according to estimates by the World Health Organisation. The United Nations reports that every day some 137 women around the world are killed by their spouses, partners, or family members.
In Guyana, as of November 25, 17 women had been killed for the year, among them 44-year-old Somattie Keosoram, a mother of six, who was stabbed to death, reportedly by her 56-year-old estranged husband Terrence Jackson in January.
In March, Natoya Speede, 37, a Bartica teacher, was axed to death in front of her six children, reportedly by her ex-husband Orrin King.
In April, Devika Vickram Naraindat, also known as ‘Vanessa,’ 23, was murdered and stuffed in a barrel, allegedly by her partner Suraj Veersammy at Belvedere Village, Corentyne, Berbice and Vanessa Benjamin, a 21-year-old mother of two of Ithaca Village, West Bank Berbice woman was stabbed to death, allegedly by her former partner Jamal Angus.
In May, Velma Pickering, 56, was stabbed to death allegedly by her son-in-law, Linden Junior Isaacs. Also in May, Rosella Smith, 28, a grocer at Bartica, was strangled. She had last been seen alive in the company of a man called ‘Blackboy’.
In September, 24-year-old Lunisa Peters, a mother of one, was stabbed to death at Supenaam, Essequibo, by a man described by the police as a jealous ex-boyfriend.
In October, Clarabel Johnson, 28, a mother of three, was chopped to death in Albouystown by her former partner from whom she had been separated for six years, but who had never stopped stalking and threatening her despite there being a restraining order against him.
In November, at least three women were murdered by men. Sixteen-year-old Sanesha Lall was stabbed to death by a predatory older man, Yogeshwar Kumar, 34, who according to reports, she had rejected. Amrita Rahim, 28, a mother of three, was stabbed in the heart, allegedly by her husband, 33-year-old Taijram Rahim at Rosignol, Berbice. And at Good Intent, West Bank Demerara, Jennifer Anderson, 62, was stabbed to death, allegedly by her 38-year-old son, Devon Anderson.
Even as this is being written and read, countless other women and girls are continuing to be abused, because they are perceived as property, or as weak by men who are determined to gain and maintain control over them. Patriarchy, cultural norms, and an overall lack of empowerment lend to the perpetuation of women and girls being manipulated, humiliated, intimidated, terrorised, wounded and killed. Worst of all, they are often blamed for the abuse they endure, when in fact, those who seek to harm them need no excuse. They are also ridiculed for staying by those who cannot take the time to walk even a step in their shoes and who also ignore the fact that many who left still ended up murdered. The cases cited above of Ms Keosoram, Ms Speede, Ms Benjamin, Ms Peters, Ms Johnson, and Miss Lall are all evidence of this. Instead of pointing fingers and casting blame, people should be asking how they can help.
Global organisations continually exhort governments to stop paying lip service to gender-based violence and act by budgeting more money for the services women need including shelters, legal aid, education, and economic empowerment. Police forces must be trained and re-trained to deal with this crime. It is not enough to say zero tolerance, this must be evident in the response.
Last month, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security highlighted that under the European Union and United Nations Spotlight Initiative, $1 billion would be available over three years, “to address the root causes of violence against women and develop strong safety nets to support women in violent circumstances”. The Spotlight website indicates that the emphasis would be on prevention and that this includes among other things, “building linkages with organizations of men and boys to promote healthy masculinities” …and examining “new and unaddressed areas of family and gender-based violence such as cybercrime and sexual harassment.”
Every individual has a role to play and one of the most important ones is speaking out. Silence is the petri dish in which abuse flourishes and there is not enough orange in the world to lighten the darkness that will continue to gather if we choose to remain silent.
