Dear Editor,
Oh God! OW, another one? This was the cry of one of our nephews when he glanced at the front page of the January 18 edition of Kaieteur News.
What is happening in this country of ours? Women’s lives are being wiped out as if they have no value.
For too long women have been suffering at the hands of their spouses. If they are not brutally murdered, they are severely injured, leaving many of them maimed and traumatised. Why should women have to be fearful for their lives?
Domestic violence keeps on happening, the headlines keep coming, in spite of tremendous advocacy work done by so many organisations/individuals and even though we now have the Domestic Violence Act. These outrageous acts have to stop and must be stopped. It takes everyone (victims/survivors, family members/relatives and friends, neighbours, communities, the police and the judicial system, the welfare and probation services, the religious and other organisations – all of us) to make this happen. Domestic violence is everybody’s business.
There are still a lot of women who don’t know about the Domestic Violence Act and what protection it offers (even though it offers little at the moment). Women in violent situations are still reluctant to use available resources because of shame and fear and because they have been convinced (by abusers and relatives) that they are responsible for the violence. And family and friends fail to give support to the woman which results in her either remaining in the situation or if she gets a chance to move out, returning after a short while.
Relatives and neighbours see and hear signs of domestic violence but turn a blind eye in the name of “minding my own business.” They have all kinds of excuses, like “dah man is a ignar suh I staying far.”
The church and other religious bodies emphasize the importance of the family over everything else, with the result that often times women regardless of their suffering feel compelled to stay in the abuse.
The police and the courts fail miserably in their operations to address this issue. The police fail to respond to calls reporting violence in homes even when the women beg them. Some of the excuses are, “We don’t have a vehicle,” or “We don’t have enough ranks in the station.” They often send the woman back home telling her to “call us” if the man comes back home and repeats the abuse. Why should the woman call the police when they blatantly show their reluctance to deal with the issue? If the police do decide to respond, too many times their ridiculous and careless investigations cause the cases (if they manage to reach the courts) to be thrown out for lack of evidence; and too many courts fail to take the threats and abuse seriously.
We need units with trained police officers to handle cases of domestic violence. We need a justice system which recognizes the value of the lives of these women and that will work to ensure that justice is served. We need a society which recognizes that there can be no justification for domestic violence, that it is Every Body’s business, and is therefore ready to work to eradicate it.
Yours faithfully,
Joy Marcus
Halima Khan
For Red Thread
