Dear Editor,
As long as we have leaders who do not respect the value of women, our nation’s females will continue to be slaughtered at the hands of men. Any society that cannot put mechanisms in place to eliminate such unacceptable and abhorrent form of murder and brutality against women must be seen as a society that enables it. Ours is a society that upkeeps negative and destructive cultures and subcultures because we came and met them; Jamaicans have a saying.. ‘is suh the ting set.’ I say we have the power to reset; the ability to change that which eats away at the soul of our society. Some would say, ‘corruption deh before meh mother and her mother’s time, we cyaan stop it.’ What a defeatist mentality. We can bring about changes in the moment we are given with the opportunities and power bestowed upon us.
Our unwillingness is glaring because of the convenience and benefits to be had from us continuing along the same old rugged and beastly road. A man murders a young woman and a few calls are made to well-placed people and he is allowed to leave the country. The woman has no value in Guyana so Interpol is not called in, no effort to seek extradition and the case, if there was any at all in the first place, has gone cold. Women are not property; in relationships, including marriage, they are not owned.
In Western societies, such as the one I live in, your partner or wife can choose to take another into your marital bed and you dare not touch her. You can call the police to your own home and they can ask you to leave because of any risk to her safety. They are not concerned with her decision to be unfaithful, they are concerned about her safety and her value as a woman and person and that is paramount. She can do whatever she wishes with her body. She can break or betray any commitment and you dare not touch her because the consequences will be dire for you. She is an individual first. They do not consider any moral discussion in such instances. If you commit suicide because you found a man with her in your bed, she has no legal consequences to face. You touch her and it is a completely different reality for you. The culture of ownership and control is steeped in the halls of our government and many in government get away with abuse of women.
Sincerely,
Norman Browne
Social and Political Activist
