Dear Editor,
We are not even 30 days into the New Year and we are witnessing the continuation of a disturbing trend of Guyanese men abusing and killing women they share a relationship with. Why? Why do men abuse and kill the woman they proclaim to love? Why do men refuse to leave or as we say in local slang, “tek lef?” A woman or man is within their right to decide who they choose to have a relationship, and if they no longer want to be in a relationship. For all the tough talk, I find that many Guyanese men are more concerned about what their so-called friends and people will think about them if their wife or girlfriend decides she doesn’t want to be in a relationship with them. Many would not tell you this publically, but it is their perceived embarrassment and illusion that a woman “belongs” to them, as if she is property, similar to how slaves were once regarded as property of slave owners.
Men, get over it. There are so many women in the world, why do you hit or kill your partner, then run and hide until the police locate you? In prison, the only woman you will see is the one you use your imagination to make love to. You will be surrounded by hundreds of other men, living in a room, surrounded by bars. You will spend at least 10 or more years wishing you did not hit or abused your partner, during which time you will be without a girlfriend. Is this what you really want for yourself? I have also noticed that the majority of men who kill their partners end up killing themselves? Really men, is it worth it? For what, because you worry more about what people have to say or think, rather than putting your own wellbeing first? You want something to worry about? Worry about being a happy man, not a jealous man and short-term thinking man who ends up in jail or dead.
Sincerely,
Rawle A. Small
