Talking about women’s rights and stopping domestic violence and child abuse is not good enough

Sep 19, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I write in response to a news article, titled, “Human Services Ministry faults media” (Kaieteur News Septem,ber 16) and a follow-up letter written by Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand captioned, “Childcare and Protection Agency wants apology from GPA head” (Kaieteur News Septem,ber 18).
This subject is of particular interest to me, as my daughter, who received her Masters Degree in Criminal Justice with a perfect 4.0 GPA at age 22, works for the New York City Children’s Services, specialising in Hospital and Sex Abuse cases.
Perhaps the next time Minister Manickchand gets the urge to write, she should caption her report; “Why enough is not being done to protect our women and children”. But let me address her concerns here: It is in her Ministry’s best interest to cultivate the best possible relationship with the media, instead of picking fights, following in President Jagdeo’s footsteps, demanding an apology from Guyana Press Association’s President, Gorden Moseley. Maybe Minister Manickchand should have waited to read the editorial, “A lapse in statesmanship” (Kaieteur News September 17), for this is precisely the point raised…She has taken Jagdeo’s demand of an apology from Moseley “as an acceptable norm.”
Mr. Editor, I mentioned my daughter; not to brag about her achievements, but because I know how demanding the job of protecting innocent children from molesters is, and how dedicated one has to be to handle the stress that comes with the territory.
Her agency does not depend on the press for success; they are highly trained professionals with the resources and support of the City of New York and the judiciary system, to enforce their authority. Talking about women’s rights and stopping domestic violence and child abuse is simply not good enough; one has to be properly trained and be prepared to put in the ground work just to start seeing results.
There are tons of websites on the internet that educate women on how to recognise signs, and how to deal with domestic violence. But Manickchand’s greatest challenge is getting the majority of Guyanese men to respect women, and getting law enforcement and the judiciary to inflect severe penalties if they don’t. She needs to set up a special hot-line to report child abuse and domestic violence if this is not already done, and a safe-house for the protection of the abused. Professional counseling and legal aid must be made available to the victims of domestic violence and child abuse.
If these services are not available, fully staffed and functioning, she should be pressuring the Head of State to fully comply with these requirements.
The establishment of a Child Protection Agency and the effort being made to reduce domestic violence are commendable; but anyone who thinks this job is going to be easy, is delusional. To blame the media when not enough is being done to prevent these atrocities is simply ludicrous. Blaming the messenger is not going to work in her best interest. If the Minister needs the press to publish events and workshops, she should use her office to get GINA to publish same in the newspaper no one reads, or make it part of the complimentary ads that Kaieteur News offered to publish for the Government. Newspapers depend on about 40% of its space in advertising revenue to be viable; and with the current surge in the murder rate, Government’s wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money and alleged corrupt dealings with shady characters, increased drug trafficking and gun violence, there may not be enough space left to publish an event for the Ministry of Human Services. Perhaps if and when the PPP/C Administration gets the crime rate under control, there will be adequate space available for reporting on workshops and seminars, but everyday there is another murder which has to be given priority.
I believe the independent media have been fair on the coverage of women and children; and I’m not alone in this opinion as was reported from comments made be US expert on domestic violence – Beth Feder, in Kaieteur News Septem,ber 17: “Feder lauded the fact that domestic violence is being reported in Guyana so prominently, and drew reference to recent media reports…. The fact that quite a few media workers also turned up for the briefing yesterday is clear evidence that Guyana is on the right track in relation to tackling domestic violence, the consultant said.”
So the question remains; should Gordon Moseley apologise to Minister Priya Manikchand. … Hell no! Let her ask the President to apologise to the nation for setting a bad example.
Harry Gill

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