Since the pandemic began, women have faced the brunt of it. Some are being forced out of their jobs because they have inadequate childcare coverage due to school closures or are simply made redundant by their employers as they can no longer afford to have them on payroll. Service industries like hotel, restaurants, bars and retail outlets which tend to typically employ women have suffered the most because of social distancing restrictions.
I can’t begin to imagine the financial and psychological toll this is taking on women who have come under such strain and even more so now that gender-based violence seems to be at an all-time high everywhere. Women are trapped if they also happen to live with abusive partners.
We love to look at the metropoles as ideal cities which have done everything right, but the truth is women are being failed everywhere, in different ways. Just a few days ago there were protests and vigils kept for Sarah Everard in the UK after she was kidnapped and murdered by a police officer. In the USA, just a few days ago, 8 people were shot and killed, six of whom were Asian women
Guyana and the rest of Caricom countries are continuously having their constant share of violence against women to a point where nothing seems to shock anyone anymore. It is mentally exhausting.
It is dehumanising that women seem to be viewed as slaughterhouse meat by men. It feels uncomfortable and scary every time I go jogging in the park and strange men wave unnecessarily. The supremacy men like to project over you with their words and actions is frightening.
I think of all the subtle way we normalise such behaviours and pass them on to boys and girls. Dehumanisation always starts with words. Behaviours are normalised because of our habits of accepting them and failing to see how they contribute to a larger problem.
While the work to eliminate gender-based violence is multi-layered and will take constant effort, we can address the small details that we overlook, but which contribute to the culture.
Whose property?
Stop telling girls and women how to dress in order to be deemed worthy by a man. Telling women they are showing off their partner’s property reinforce the notion that women are somehow owned by men and don’t have control and authority over their bodies. Controlling and dictating the way they dress reinforce the worthiness scale and give men free reign to discard those who haven’t met their supposed standards.
Household labour
The responsibility of housework and cooking has always fallen to women. Girls are taught that being a good wife means to full undertake a caretaker role. We must move away from taking a gendered approach to basic life skills. Boys must be taught from small how to survive independently. Removing such stereotypes forces everyone to acknowledge housework for what is truly is: unpaid labour.
Women have made strides over the years, yes, but it is ignorant to say women from all walks of life manage to see the fruits of such changes. In addition, further change can’t happen until men and society at large do they part as well.
