DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: A SOCIAL DILEMMA

Oct 17, 2018 Editorial

Signs are not simply to be read but to be believed and followed. If they are directional they will guide us to our desired destination. If they are warning or danger signs, they will protect us from destruction. Those who see, read and ignore the signs do so at their own peril.
Signs of domestic violence are clear indications of our perilous social dilemma in Guyana and have been with us for a long time. Although we have not ignored domestic violence and the abuse of women, we have not made a serious or urgent effort to deal with these issues in society.
Domestic violence should be treated as an epidemic. It is spreading and society must do all that is necessary to find answers. Domestic violence has resulted in the murder of a number of women and the suicide of other people. The most recent was Itashia Idana Frank, 38, who allegedly was murdered by her boyfriend, Durn Hunt at Corriverton on the Corentyne.
It is one death too many. Neighbours have stated that Hunt was mentally ill and had been arrested several times for allegedly assaulting persons, but instead of being charged, the police would escort him to the National Psychiatric Hospital at Fort Canje, only for him to be released a few days later.
The murder of Itashia Frank has made the Corentyne the domestic murder capital of Guyana. Data show that eight of the eighteen women murdered by their male partners this year were from the Corentyne. The data also revealed that the incidents of domestic violence rose from 74.8 percent in 2011 to 89.7 percent in 2017, with women accounting for more than 95 percent of the victims.
Domestic violence accounts for one-third of the murders in the country and affects one in four women. It happens across the full socio-economic continuum, from poor families to very wealthy families and in every ethnicity, age group and religion.
While many theories have been advanced to explain domestic violence, there is unanimity that gender inequality is at its root. This suggests that it is neither random nor isolated, nor can it be explained by abnormal characteristics of the abuser or the victim.
Rather, domestic violence has been described as systemic and structural; a mechanism of patriarchal control of women that is built on male superiority and female inferiority, sex-stereotyped roles and economic, social, and political predominance of men and dependency of women.
Although reliable statistics are not readily available in Guyana, the consensus is Guyanese women continue to be the subject of widespread violence and sexual abuse that have denied them their fundamental rights.
Of more than 60 percent of women who are involved in a relationship or union, 29.7 percent were physically abused, 36.3 percent had experienced verbal abuse and 14.7 percent experienced sexual violence.
Four of every five women perceived violence in the family to be very common in Guyana and the likely causes cited for it are control, suspicion of infidelity, jealously or hot temper.
Over the years, significant effort has been made at the national and community levels to reduce domestic violence and make a difference in the lives of women. However, the reality is, as a nation, we are still struggling to address the fundamental question of how to effect the kind of societal change needed to eliminate domestic violence in Guyana.
This type of change can only occur through the collaboration of the government, private sector, civic and religious organizations and the political will necessary to implement a long-term effective and coherent plan of action.

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