Women Gender and Equality Commission says…It’s time to focus on men in the battle against domestic violence

Dec 02, 2013 News

The Women Gender and Equality Commission (WGEC) is calling on the both Government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for a continuous movement to make men frontline fighters in the war against domestic violence.
Indranie Chandarpal, Chairperson of WGEC during a press conference which was recently held at the Commission’s headquarters, opined that in the battle thus far, everyone, Government and NGOs both, has been focusing on women but fail to confront the males of society.
She said, “We women have always been talking to ourselves. Women are coming to conferences talking about violence against women and who are the participants? It is the women who are talking to women but the people who are the abusers are not there.”
“The time for us to talk the ‘woman’ talk and exclude the man is no longer viable. If we want to talk about women empowerment we also have to speak side by side about men empowerment,” said the Chairperson.

Members of the WGEC display some of the posters which will be released in schools across Guyana

Chandarpal stated that they (WGEC) believe it is imperative for men and women to work in collaboration so that society as a whole can have a better understanding of the issue.
Nicole Cole, Commissioner of WGEC, revealed that 15 women have lost their lives so far this year as a result of domestic violence. Three of them were murder/suicides.
She conveyed that most of the violence we are witnessing against women is occurring because of gender equality.
Cole said that one of the messages of the United Nations Women is that we must teach that women’s rights are human rights and there should be an environment of mutual respect. The male should not feel he is superior to the woman and vice versa.
Chandarpal also said that the violence is rooted in society as a result of socialization and it is after 1996 when the legislation became a reality, that persons realised the gravity of the criminal offence.
Chandarpal stressed that it is through socialization that we have concluded that girls are “weak” while we glorify males to believe that they are “macho men” and “supermen” and when they fail to live up to the image painted, they resort to violence.
“We raise our boy children to believe that they are ‘superman’ but the reality is that they are our loving sons, our babies. They need to be hugged. They need to cry. They need to know it’s ok to be weak,” the Chairperson said.
To assist in the battle, the Commission is petitioning for the establishment of Community Counseling Centers.
“In our society today, we need places and more opportunities for people at the community level to go if they have something that bothers them, to talk about it, instead of continuously resorting to violence.”
November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence, marking the start of the United Nation’s 16 days of activism under the campaign ‘UNITE to End Violence against Women’.
During the course of the 16 days, the Women’s Progressive Organisation will be launching the first community counseling center at Maria’s Lodge and another in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
She stated that a number of NGOs are hosting many campaigns to aid in the war against domestic violence and that they are starting more aggressive poster campaigns in schools.