Under cooperation agreement with Spain…
THE Caribbean Community (CARCOM), on International Women’s Day yesterday, appointed its first ever Advocate on Gender Justice, in its quest to reduce the high incidence of violence against women. At her introduction to the region through video-conferencing hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Rosina Wiltshire, a Barbadian, made an impassioned plea for there to be a unified effort to help fight the scourge.

“Violence against women is a cancer which is destroying the lives of women, boys and girls and spreads out to the schoolyards and communities,” she told Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite; Assistant Secretary General, Human and Social Development, Dr. Edward Greene; Ms. Magda Pollard and Dr. Halima-Sa Adia Kassim, Deputy Programme Manager, Women’s Affairs,  who were all present at the Secretariat; CARICOM Triennial awardees, Justice Desiree Bernard of the Caribbean Court of Justice in Trinidad and Ms. Barbara Bailey in Jamaica.

According to Wiltshire, the issue of gender justice requires that more than lip service should be paid to the issue of gender equality and emphasised that her advocacy begins with a focus on eliminating violence against women.

She said: “We cannot and will not make progress in addressing the downward social slide in our society and the growing violence in our schools and communities unless we address violence against women.”

Wiltshire said there is a widespread perception that violence against women is actually on the increase.

Under a two-year CARICOM/Spain Cooperation Agreement, she is mandated to coordinate research on gender based violence (GBV) within the Caribbean; raise awareness of the need for further action to develop and strengthen integrated responses that will address all  social and legal sectors for the purposes of protection, provision of services, justice and prevention.

As such, she will conduct specialised studies on gender based  violence in the region, raise awareness of the need for further action, develop and strengthen integrated responses which suggest the judiciary, law enforcement and social services for the purposes of prevention and protection of its victims and the provision of services to victims and perpetrators who, sometimes, are also victims and identify specific recommendations aimed at enhancing member State compliance with their international and regional priorities.

Wiltshire asserted that women have always been in the forefront of the struggle for equality, justice and peace. However, as a result of gender inequality, their contribution is often neither recognised nor remembered.

Ripple effects
She cited the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC ) report of 2009, which states that the ripple effects of violence commence with the victims and radiates outward to families and the outward society and adds to the burdens of the health care judicial society, the loss of productivity incurred and, ultimately, has repercussion on the gross domestic product (GDP).

Wiltshire made reference, too, to a recent World Bank report which said violence, crime and economic development are intricately linked and that, in nine Caribbean countries, 13 per cent of all women experience physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.

Gender based violence, she said, stands out as a systemic and systematic violation of human rights and an obstacle to economic, social and democratic development in all countries.

But, as a consequence of the movement for gender equality and the advancement of women within the last three decades, some progress has been recgnised, among them concerns related to violence against women and the priority focus given by both the regional and international communities.

Wiltshire lamented that, despite these achievements in bringing greater visibility to violence against women and the legislative and institutional reform, violence against women and children appear to be on the rise and a significant numbers of women are being killed by their partners.

She said, during the two years she will be collaborating closely with regional governments and civil society, as well as UN agencies and other international bodies

Wiltshire said research will also be coordinated with select CARICOM member States with the focus on youth masculinity and violence, with the aim being to hear from young men and women what is their understanding of being a man and how does this contribute to the   perpetration of violence.

On the basis of the findings, recommendations will be forwarded on how to prevent gender violence, propose ways of development and enhancement of polices for the promotion and protection of the rights of women and access to justice for the survivors of violence, as well as the general harmonisation of general legislation.

Wiltshire said she would also collaborate with the persons responsible for the promotion and  protection of the women’s rights nationally, regionally and internationally.

Towards that quest, the major focus will be to encourage participation of women, girls, men and boys as agents of change

During her presentation, she said in her more than 25 years of postgraduate teaching, research and evaluation, she has garnered a wealth of experience in gender and development, complemented by a range of requisite skills in leadership, advocacy and team building, strategic planning, resource mobilisation, donor coordination and media management, which make her an ideal person to assume the responsibility of Special Advocate.

Congratulating Wiltshire on her appointment, Pollard said the decision by CARICOM was not only timely but overdue.

Pollard said, though, that, despite the strides being made by many of the regional governments to harness this issue, the problem lies in lack of international recognition, because the issue is still being seen in the context that the home is the castle of some type; that family is being viewed in a very narrow concept and the relationship in family life is not as strong as it should be.

She posited that there should be some modification of the traditional belief that men are taking their rightful place as the head of the home.

Bernard said she is overjoyed by the decision and that, in addition to the appointment being seen as a first and extremely important, is a step towards solving a cancer in the midst and International Women’s Day 2010 will be written in the annals of the history of CARICOM as a significant day.

A message from caricom secretary General Edwin Carrington, on the occasion of IWD 2010, was read by Applewhaite.