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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND DEATHS
In the last month, domestic violence left two women dead and two injured. On June 10, the police charged 21-year-old Rick Sewcharran, of Diamond, East Bank Demerara, for the murder of his girlfriend, Sasia Adams, of East Street, Georgetown.
A week later, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) sticking to its promise of zero tolerance for domestic violence, charged a lance corporal for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to his wife and sister-in-law.
On June 22, Tovonie Simmons, 28, a mother of four of Limlair Village, Corentyne, was stabbed to death by her former common law partner, Imran Lyte, a farmer also from Limlair. On the same day, Omawattie Alvin, 47, of Babu Jaan, Port Mourant, narrowly escaped death when her husband, Lionel Thomas, 62, of Rose Hall stabbed her. He eventually burnt her house down and committed suicide after she managed to escape.
Lyte subsequently died of poisoning at the Port Mourant Hospital.
Even though some men tend to become extremely violent when confronted with the threat of separation or with the suspicion of infidelity, there is no justification for them to murder women. Women groups have called on the government to implement stricter punishment on those who commit such brutal acts.
However, reducing domestic violence is a community and a societal issue. It happens across the full socio-economic continuum, from poor families to very wealthy families and in every ethnicity, age group and religion. Statistics shows that a few women are offenders.
In order to properly address the issue, the attitude of men must change and there must be a full understanding of the complex nature of such conflicts. Part of understanding the nature of domestic violence is that men should acknowledge that women are equal partners to them and they have the same rights.
But this truth has been blurred, thus causing men to dehumanize women based on their belief that women are their property.Domestic violence can have long-lasting and in some cases, lifelong impacts on victims, children and society. Society must find ways to educate and implement community programmes such as mediation and anger management training to help people control their emotions. Women who have jilted their male partners should be protected from being murdered.
Some claimed that domestic violence and the murder of women by men can be traced back to the school system, where drop-outs among male students are among the highest in the Caribbean.
The situation is so complex that Christians have called for divine intervention to curb the murder and abuse of women. Sabre rattling will not help. People, government, women’s groups, the Opposition and the media must mobilize and act. The nation must not surrender to any helplessness of wondering who will be next.
Perhaps one of the more pressing issues, given the increase in domestic violence is how do we identify and stem the toxic relationships in the short term and change the mindset of our young men? Studies have shown that men who kill their partners do so out of jealousy, rage, control and possessiveness. While some have labeled such murders as crimes of passion, others believe that men who murder their female partners are intentional killers and that most had problematic childhoods and adulthoods, alcohol or drug problems; that they came from broken homes, were failure at school or were hopeless. Even though some men who killed women had none of these problems, studies show that they had the tendency to do so.
Domestic violence accounts for one-third of the murders in the country and it affects one in four women. It is a very serious problem that must be tackled urgently.
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