In the face of growing assaults against and murders of women by men, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has labelled patriarchy a public health concern and called for an intense public education programme targeting boys and girls.
The human rights body noted that patriarchy has been deeply internalised by both men and women for generations and therefore extremely difficult to challenge. Therefore, it said, the notion that the empowerment of women can occur independently of dissolving patriarchal attitudes is an illusion. “Gender empowerment is more of a zero sum game than we like to think,” the GHRA said in its statement, which was released last week to commemorate International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
It noted that patriarchal attitudes are displayed “each time a man decides his new wife can no longer work, or the
