Dear Editor,
The headlines of two letters this past week have gotten beneath my skin and today I want to publicly declare that I stand for equality and do not support any form of abuse against women in the workplace. I would like to also use this medium to call on all men to stand up for our women, we aren’t stronger together as males looking out for each other, we are stronger when we unite and speak up for the women who needs us most.
Last week a letter by a patron at a coffee shop caught my attention, the individual who I presume is female, spoke about a conversation she overheard at the said cafe about women from a Government Commission who were discussing among themselves the abuse they face at the hands of a senior manager. I became enraged because just last year my sister and I were browsing through the newspapers when a similar article from a staff indicated that she was belittled by a manager within the same commission.
A year later, that’s an entire year, Editor, why is harassment at the same commission a topic in the news? Has the Chairman or other Commissioners not seen it? Did the Minister responsible for the commission not notice it and launch an investigation? What about the opposition representatives on the Commission, do they not have a say about issues of this nature? And what about the male staff there… are they siding with their male colleague? Why isn’t there an issue from one of the many women rights groups who raise their heads only when a woman is beaten or dead! Why the silence?
Whoever this person is, does he believe he is untouchable? Who is protecting him and why are they protecting him? I am a young professional with two sisters and a mother who work within the public system. Public Service employees are offering a service to the people of this country, and by extension, represent the Government of Guyana. Why then can’t the Government represent them? Another brilliant piece was published, just a few days ago, kudos to that individual for speaking out and calling on relevant bodies to represent women, the person also called on men, so here I am, a lone voice for now saying to our women, that you are worthy, beautiful and deserve all the respect.
We are your protectors, only cowards will abuse and harass you to feel validated, only cowards will come after you to satisfy their ego. The men on a mission was an excellent initiative started by Dr. Irfaan Ali, I wish to implore on him to make the abuse of our women a topic at the next meetup. Men, why are we failing our women? We need to do better.
Sincerely,
J. Persaud