GENDER based violence was under spotlight again yesterday when the faith communities engaged the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), at Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston, Georgetown, in ‘Conversations for a Better World’.

A section of participants

The first in a series of such engagements was aimed at sharing ideas and opinions that will, ultimately, see the creation of a better Guyana in the area of not only gender but population and health.

The participants hailed from Regions Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) and Four (Demerara Mahaica), and their objectives were to:

* increase awareness on the role of faith and culture in population and gender issues;

* promote and mobilise faith communities towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and improving the health and well-being of people and communities and

* create and strengthen partnerships on population, health and gender issues for the creation of a better world.*

Assistant UNFPA Representative, Ms. Patrice La Fleur said the expected outcome is the galvanising of action at a community level, to assist in reducing the scourge of gender based violence.

“Faith based organisations are a critical agent of change. They are critical because they deal with large numbers of people and gender based violence cuts across all races, classes and religions,” she observed.

PLATFORM
La Fleur said the forum served as a platform from which the work being done by the faith based community, as well as the next steps forward, can be identified.

She said UNFPA is seeking to expand its partnership and extend its assistance beyond the main partners.

“Gender based violence is something that we are constantly bombarded with and it is time that we all galvanise action to address this issue more aggressively,” La Fleur said.

She acknowledged that faith based organisations contribute significantly to the development of society and, by extension, a country.

“We can no longer avoid acknowledging the parallel faith based development interventions which reach so many and provide so much,” La Fleur said, adding: “The world of faith based development organisations is filled with the diversity of mandates and missions, expertise, services and modalities of work among other things.”

Against that background, Dr. Janice Jackson, who has worked extensively with gender based violence in Guyana, reaffirmed that it affects all and is the business of everyone.

“Gender based violence is a fact of life…It is nothing new,” she admitted.

Jackson explained that the gender based violence is prevalent in homes and takes different forms, including sexual violence and trafficking of persons and observed that each individual must take on the responsibility of stopping it.

“We need to identify what we know and what we do not know because the things that we do not know we need to find out. The things that we do know will be our base to take action,” she offered.

ROLES
In that context, she said there are many roles that persons can play in addressing the issue and no one should turn a blind eye to it.

Rather, Jackson said victims of such acts should be embraced while working with the perpetrators.

“The community has a role to play. We cannot close our windows and behave as if what is happening is not our business. We have to recognise that faith based organisations are valuable partners in addressing gender based violence,” she said.

Jackson, while lauding the efforts of the State in the quest, pointed out that there is much more that needs to be done and must be done in partnership with other stakeholders.

She urged yesterday’s participants to ground their perspectives on personal experiences in discussing the way forward.

Sharing hers, Jackson bemoaned the use of the word fight when coupled with efforts to address gender based violence and suggested transformation instead.

“I am not going to use the word ‘Fight against gender based violence’. I am not going to add more violence to that. I am going to work towards the transformation,” she asserted.

Jackson observed that actions to reduce gender based violence will, ultimately, see all human beings able to enjoy their right to safe life and love and live in peace and harmony.

Other concerns raised included the impact of cultural changes on traditional values; the promotion of violence via the media, primarily on television; the acceptance, to perform in Guyana, of entertainers who have been banned in other countries for the violence their music promotes and censorship of to what the Guyanese public is exposed.

CENSORING
Reverend Kwame Gilbert supported the censoring and remarked that, while freedom of the press is respected, some measure of responsibility needs to be taken into consideration.

“Censorship is important,” he declared.

Gilbert, a Member of Parliament (MP), also addressed the issue of violent music and said, because the majority of youth is influenced by it, censorship should be employed for behaviour change.

He said, in addressing any issue, something concrete must be done or perpetual attempts will be the future of dealing with the matter at hand.

Other participants concurred that the forum was an important and timely initiative.

Mr. Ryan Doodnauth, of the Muslim Youth League (MYL), said because of the reach that religious organisations have, their opinions and involvement in addressing gender based violence is imperative.

Mr. Leo Sawh, of Satya Sai Baba, said collaboration amongst faith based organisations is indicative of the fact that gender based violence and the pain it causes transcends separating barriers in any society.