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‘Abused women need professional help’- Dr. Dawn Stewart
Incidents of domestic violence have been plaguing this country for over a decade. Statistics indicate that there were 1,078 reported cases in 2006; 3,621in 2007; and the number has been increasing ever since.
GWR senior member, Dr. Dawn Stewart
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and even the Judiciary, have been doing their part to reduce these unfortunate statistics. However, nothing has changed. So why is it that some of these women return to abusive relationships?
Guyanese Women Roundtable (GWR) senior member, Dr. Dawn Stewart, said that it is relatively difficult to reach out to women in abusive relationships, since a variety of factors have to be considered.
Yesterday, Dr. Stewart stated that each case would have to be judged on its own merit. “You would have to consider things like sources of income, living situation and the fact that some women might be afraid to change their lifestyle, self-esteem issues (how they feel about themselves)… These are all things that affect whether or not a woman would go back to a man.”
“These situations are relatively difficult to address, because they are not going back to the relationship of abuse, they are going back because the man is gonna do better.”
She added that more often than not, the abusive act is followed by extreme apologies and other ways of luring the victim back in.
Stewart added that as human beings, we are often drawn to familiar surroundings, and that working with these women goes far beyond getting them out of the abusive relationship.
At a recent GWR meeting, the point was raised that from the beginning of time, women were trained to be the weaker sex, and were branded as submissive. This, according to GWR member, Ms. Penda, has affected the woman’s way of thinking and approach to acquiring positions of power and independence.
Dr. Stewart, who shares similar views, stressed that with respect to addressing instances of domestic violence, “a lot of psychological work is needed, and in addition to that, they (abused women) need to move away from that desire to have that familiar support; they need jobs, help, empowerment, and most of all they need to be independent, so that they can fend for themselves.”
She went into the reality of most situations of domestic violence, by highlighting that most women are not being abused every hour of everyday, so they form the opinion that their abuser merely has a problem controlling his anger.
That opinion, according to Dr. Stewart, is usually coupled with the victim’s deep love and affection for the abuser, which they think, is compelling enough to change the abusive traits in the person.
She identified economic dependence, past failures and even sex, as elements that encourage women to stay committed in abusive relationships. She reiterated that “without professional help, victims will be unable to unravel what is happening to them… Until women understand that they have the right not to be abused, psychological intervention is needed.”
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