— women urged to speak up against domestic violence

FAR too many times women have remained silent about ill-treatment from their intimate partner until it becomes unbearable but, the call is out for those women to “break the silence” and speak up about domestic violence.

Domestic violence is defined as a violent or aggressive behaviour within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or partner.
In what was perhaps one of the largest local movements against domestic violence, women and men turned out in their numbers to get the message out to those who are affected by the social ill, during a march around the streets of Georgetown and a rally at the Square of the Revolution on Sunday.

Persons were seen on their verandahs or in front of their yards listening keenly to the chants “Break the silence”, “Speak up”.

Leading from the front was Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence; Mayor of Georgetown, Patricia Chase-Green; and members of RISE, the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) which organised the activity.

They proceeded along the parade route, holding hands as a depiction of the message that there must be a unified effort to combat domestic violence and violence against women.
“We must unite to end violence against women; it would not happen alone, it will happen together,” said activist and member of RISE, Sharmin Prince.
The activist believes that in order to combat the ill, there needs to be a holistic effort which includes all stakeholders.

Prince, who was also a victim of domestic violence, said she knows how important support is in the process of helping a woman to overcome the effects of abuse or even getting out of it.
“We often keep it to ourselves and the silence is what destroys women, so as was said all day, we need to break the silence,” she posited, adding that women are often guilty of suppressing pain.

STILL NEEDS HELP
As much as the input of persons would help women to get out of a compromising situation, she said a mental pain still exists, so they would also need help in the area of psychological healing.

The guest speaker at the rally, Dr. Darlene Day, also stressed the importance of psychological healing but, she was certain that women are stronger than their struggles.
Dr. Day believes women would be able to better overcome those struggles once they receive the necessary support.

“You can stop the violence; once you put your mind to something you could make it happen,” she said, as words of encouragement for women who are victims of domestic violence.

A moment of silence and tributes were paid to women who did not receive the necessary encouragement and were not able to win their fight against domestic violence.
Death because of domestic violence continues to be an issue that needs to be addressed and RISE believes that it is time for something to be done about the wanton loss of life due to intimate partner violence.

“Unless we confront these issues, we will continue to have this conversation every time we experience a spike of killings due to domestic disputes,” the NGO says.
They feel that men need to have real and honest conversations about their responses to emotional challenges, and that this must be facilitated by the community, churches, workplaces, sports organisations and the government.

“As a country, we must do all that is necessary to ensure that the wanton killing of our women ends. To this end, RISE would like to call on the relevant ministries and the police to bring their considerable resources to bear in addressing the root causes of this issue,” RISE said.

RISE believes that the root cause of domestic violence has strong cultural links, and the inability of some to cope with emotional challenges, economic disenfranchisement and perceived peer pressure.