In the halls of power, anything goes. So frequent are accusations of physical and economic violence that both politicians and the public have adopted a blasé attitude towards it all. It is just another occurrence within a long list of events that will fade from memory as quickly as the last ones had. The impact of this unchecked authority continues to see wilful harm being perpetuated through parliament on the public and to the women within it.
Small men and big egos continue to be a dangerous mixture where their need for power and control often eclipses everything else. Those that get into their bad books or annoy them in some small way are sure to face the weight of their anger. Those on the receiving end of this often have very little recourse to justice, particularly if they do not have the resources to contend with the protection their abuser’s office and rich and powerful allies provide.
When former Public Service Minister, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley came forward with her account of assault perpetrated by the embattled Kwame McCoy, the swiftness with which efforts were made to discount and criticize her while coddling McCoy, drove home a point that we have always known, society largely does not give a damn about women. While it can be said that she operates from a fairly privileged position and connection to power, her experience demonstrates the fact that violence against women is not something that is tied only to the confines of the home but exists across all social, political and economic spheres.
The response of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir mirrored that of former President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2015. This was when Kwame was accused of soliciting sex from a minor. After the government remained mum on the allegations of Kwame soliciting sex from a young boy, Bharrat’s response was largely that he would be guided by the findings of the police and court. So, Manzoor’s response that the matter stops at the findings of the police is a disappointing one, albeit not surprising. It is a rather dangerous pattern though, to continuously send the message to women and children that their experiences of violence is not valid unless the police and court system finds their abusers guilty. Those that do not have documented proof of the crimes committed against them are being shown that they will not be believed. With extremely low rates of survivors opening up about their experiences, this is not something that should be encouraged. The things we know about policing and judiciary systems is that they are inherently flawed. On a good day, the police fail to connect the most basic of dots, when one adds the dynamics of money, power and prestige, the reliability of police and their crime solving skills drops dramatically.
Concerns over false allegations of abuse are much ado about nothing as false accusations are extremely low. The reliance on this narrative that it ruins the reputation of the accused is usually used to discredit the experiences of survivors. Usually, it is the reputations of the women coming forward that are significantly harmed as they are the ones that are branded as liars, attention seekers and just trying to cause trouble for otherwise law abiding men. This is even more apparent when survivors of abuse do not fit the narrow mold of the “perfect victim.”
Given the ease within which men continue to live and remain unaffected by accusations of violence, often gaining even more support from followers, the fact is that very little is done to their reputations. This is why despite several other allegations of violence tabled against him, at least one of which he has been found guilty; Kwame was awarded with a Ministerial portfolio in the governing administration. If nothing else, those with aligned class interests will always look out for each other. There are many men both from the governing party, the Opposition and other small parties that have a known history of violence ranging from paedophilia to financial abuse and very little is done about it.
The women within these parties remain mum, because ultimately, toeing the party line is more important than calling out the violent and predatory nature of their comrades. So they appease their conscience with vague statements and grand optics without ever deviating from the party script that is handed to them. It would be unfair to say that these female leaders do not have agency in the choices they make when it comes to remaining silent in the face of their colleagues’ wrongdoings. It is much fairer to say that they are willingly complicit in maintaining the set standards that they benefit from. Political leaders continue to demonstrate that as long as service to party remains true; a blind eye can be turned to all evil deeds.