We keep killing our women and have the audacity to ask what’s wrong with Guyana

May 09, 2018 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
How is it remotely possible a man with several kilos of ganja gets a 4-year sentence, but a man who blatantly admitted to beating his wife with a rolling pin, severely damaging her body, (not to mention the mental, physical and emotional trauma she must have faced previously), gets only 18 months?
The funding, programmes, “initiatives” and women’s groups are all in vain if men keep seeing light sentences for blatantly brutalizing and admitting to brutalizing women. It sets a precedent that a woman’s life is worth less than a bag of dope.
Newspapers and people preach constantly about how the “attitude” or the culture needs to change, but what really needs to change is the way the court and law enforcement deal with these sensitive cases.
Selling or smoking weed is a non-violent offence; much of the world is beginning to see the benefits of the plant and are legalizing it. Yet, here we are in 2018, jailing men for a plant but allowing rapists, child molesters and abusers to run rampant. And you wonder why there is little to no social progress? Why our country is in shambles? Why people are getting robbed in broad daylight?
Violence begets violence; the abuse witnessed by these young people at home is the trickledown effect of the crimes we’re seeing within our society today. If people in power, in any capacity, truly cared for this country, implementing ways to fully eradicate domestic violence would be at the forefront of their campaign.
We would be creating ways to prevent, not treat crime. Instead, we keep putting a band-aid over a bruise, hoping it would heal the wound. What needs to be done is stricter laws have to be put in place for these atrocious men who feel as if they rulers over the women in their lives.
Police and relevant authorities need to be adequately trained and then held accountable if they belittle, disrespect or disregard these abused women or these abuse claims. Real support and protection needs to be given to these women and their families.
How many brave, strong women have somehow found a means of escape from their abuser, trying to raise their family and contribute to society in a positive way, only to find their abuser stalking, threatening and in many cases killing them after many unheard cries to the police for help?
The creation of wealth from oil and gas means absolutely nothing, if we as a country continue to inadvertently cosign on the inhumane killing, abuse and disrespect of our women.
Stephanie Persaud

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