Violence Against Our Women On The Rise

One Caribbean Nation.

We honor and respect all women on this International Women’s Day. However, we must state with absolute clarity, that we remain concerned and aware that our Caribbean women, continue to be physically and mentally abused; domestic abuse is growing throughout the region.

Our women, since the days of slavery, have held the fabric of our societies together. They have allowed men to “rule” even when such respect was not earned. For the last half century, this traditional role has undergone considerable change and we have seen women rise to leadership in all spheres of regional endeavor. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the political arena, where we have witnessed them attain the highest political office as Prime Ministers. In both the public and private sectors, our women have displayed their abilities to function at the highest levels.

We are convinced that these achievements, have caused a great majority of our men some discomfort. The days of the man and the church, insisting that biblical teaching denotes the man, as the head of the household with the final word, are long gone and societies have been forced to acknowledge this obvious development. Our women continue to avail themselves of all educational opportunities and have higher levels of enrollment, at the tertiary level throughout the region. They have also continued to miraculously deal with single parent homes and dead-beat fathers.

We are therefore saddened by the increased violence against our women and the failure of governments, to effect more drastic laws and better agencies to reduce and eliminate all forms of violence against our women. It is a dirty spot of the post-independence era and it must be removed with haste.

While we rejoice with our women on this day, we weep with those who remain the victims of spineless, dastardly men, who believe that it is their right to make punching bags of our women. We advise all women to immediately remove themselves from any relationship, at the very first sign of domestic abuse.  Many of our women have not seen this day because such abuse has placed them in graves.