Latest update March 27th, 2025 8:24 AM
Latest News
- Jamaica rebuffs Rubio push against Cuban doctors
- Canadian company to pay over US$3.8M to local titleholders to fully acquire second gold project in Guyana
- Over 140,000 displaced in a week in Gaza amid renewed Israeli attacks: UN
- Businessmen complain of foreign currency shortage
- PPP disrupts meeting with Mohamed and Berbice residents
Despite good work, violence against women on the increase
Dr Rosina Wiltshire
Despite legislative and institutional reforms and increasing attention to the problem, violence against women and girls is still on the increase, says newly appointed advocate for gender justice of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Rosina Wiltshire.
“Significant numbers of women in this region are being killed by their partners,” she said yesterday at a press conference at the CARCIOM Secretariat in Georgetown.
Wiltshire’s appointment is the first of its kind, and she has been tasked with co-ordinating research on gender-based violence within the Caribbean and raise awareness of the need for further action to develop and strengthen integrated responses.
She wants to harmonise all social and legal sectors that work for the protection of women and provide services to victims as well as perpetrators, since it has been found that perpetrators of violence against women were once abused themselves.
Wiltshire also wants to find the linkage between the concept of male sexuality and how it relates to violence against women and girls.
“We want to hear from the young men and women what they understand to be the essence of being a man, and how this may contribute to the perpetration of violence,” Wiltshire stated.
The CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington also acknowledged progress in some areas, but pointed to the need for further work.
He said that although inequalities still exist, the Caribbean has made significant progress over the last decade in achieving equality between women and men. He credited this to legislation, gender mainstreaming, the institutionalisation of gender programmes and “a proliferation of studies and policy analyses that have fostered a better understanding of the complementary gender roles.”
Nevertheless, he said there is still work to be done to accelerate progress for equality and gender justice.
“These include, but are not limited to, the harmonisation of national legislation with international instruments; promotion of secure livelihoods; ensuring access to social protection and strengthening public interventions to address domestic violence,” Carrington said in a message to mark International Women’s Day, which was celebrated yesterday.
Wiltshire, from Barbados, brings a wealth of her experience to her post and she has been congratulated on her appointment by Caribbean women icons such as Guyanese Magda Pollard and Justice Desiree Bernard.
The establishment of an Office of the Special Advocate against GBV underpins the strategy to reduce the high incidence of violence against women in the Caribbean.
Funded under the CARICOM / Spain Co-operation Agreement, the two-year project seeks to develop a more co-ordinated and integrated approach to reducing Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the CARICOM region.
As Special Advocate, Dr Wiltshire will also propose specific recommendations aimed at enhancing Member States’ compliance with their international and regional priority obligations of equality and non-discrimination.
As such, the Advocate will be expected to influence policy development on gender-based violence in the Caribbean through advocacy and knowledge provision.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The U.S. pressure on Venezuela may backfire on Guyana
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- The world is full of unintended consequences, those sly little gremlins that slip into... more
The Caribbean: Destined to Grin and Bear the Consequences of Its Self-Created Vulnerabilities?
By Sir Ronald Sanders For decades, many Caribbean nations have grappled with dependence on a small number of powerful countries... more
Weekend Cartoon
