Romona Lall, Danielle Charles and Chooromanie Tulsie were murdered in November. All three of them were brutally stabbed. Ms Lall’s body was discovered in a room at a city hotel where she had checked in with her husband. Ms Charles’ body was found in a clump of bushes. Ms Tulsie’s body was in the bottom flat of her home. Up to the time this column was being written there had been no charges laid in any of the murders. In fact, no formal arrest had been made.
There were other atrocities involving violence against women this month. About a week ago, Cherriel Fredricks had four of her fingers chopped off during an altercation with her reputed husband, who was subsequently arrested. Earlier, Jasoda Gocool was hospitalised after being attacked from behind by a man dressed in black who stabbed her in the chest, back and left arm.
These were not all of the acts of violence meted out to women during this month, only the worst outcomes. They have fallen like huge boulders of neglect into the pool of apathy this society seems to have evolved into; ripples seemingly coming only from their grieving children and other relatives. There has been some amount of consternation from the general public in their responses to reports on these incidents in the press, but where is the outrage? And where is the response from our caring government? Gender-based violence and femicide have to be continually condemned; they simply cannot ever be accepted as just ‘news’.
On November 25, the day the world marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, tens of thousands of people were protesting in Italy following the murder of a 22-year-old biomedical engineering student, allegedly by her boyfriend, days before she was to graduate. The protests, which took place over several days, were not only because of the young woman’s murder; protestors called for an end to violence against women in general and Italian authorities noted that for this year so far, 55 women had been killed by partners or ex-partners.
In response, the Italian Senate unanimously approved new legislation to strengthen measures against domestic violence, including stricter restraining orders and heightened surveillance of men found guilty of gender-based violence. Further, the country’s first woman Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised to introduce, in schools, an educational campaign aimed at tackling what she referred to as Italy’s “still-pervasive culture of misogynistic violence”. Two years ago, Pope Francis had expressed outrage at domestic violence referring to it as “almost satanic” and “humiliating”.
Where are we? In the same dire straits as Italy and most of the world where gender-based violence is concerned, or worse. Globally, an estimated 736 million women (almost one in three) have been subjected to violence – all forms of it – at least once in their life. In a press release to observe International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25 and the ensuing 16 days of activism, which will conclude on International Human Rights Day, December 10, the UN bemoaned the fact that worldwide, just 5% of government funding is focused on tackling violence against women and girls, and less than 0.2% is directed to prevention.
While we lack the definitive data in Guyana, there is enough evidence to determine that domestic violence, as a crime as well as both a public health and mental health issue, is completely out of control. Our response to this runaway train has appeared to blow hot and then cold, which is the opposite of what is needed to put the brakes on it.
While one recognises that there are initiatives in place at the governmental and NGO levels to assist women who find themselves in abusive situations, those are far from enough. Among the problems that need addressing is the Domestic Violence Act (1996), the modernisation of which is still to come to fruition after being a talking point in government circles for close to a year, if not longer. In its current composition, the legislation could protect victims of violence, if it were followed to the letter. Unfortunately, despite ongoing training many police officers continue to misinterpret, misunderstand and misuse the law. These lapses have, in too many instances over the years, resulted in the deaths of victims.
Furthermore, it is worth repeating here that legislation, even when it works as it should, is reactive. It is meant to function after the crime has been committed. A holistic response to gender-based violence, defined by the UN as being “any act… that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life,” must also be proactive. Stakeholders have been calling for years for educational initiatives that would begin to tackle this scourge at the school level. Given the obvious penchant for violence in schools, the time is ripe for such a strategy.
