Pull Quote: ‘The system I have in mind would work much like the sex offenders registry in the United States, a system wherein convicted abusers would have their identities published in some widely accessible format, and their presence in a new neighbourhood indicated in the case of them moving’
AMIDST THE whirlwind of  media coverage of the royal wedding which took place  a few days ago, I would venture to bet that very few people took the time to notice one slight omission from the traditional Anglican vows as spoken by the bride: She didn’t promise to obey her husband. This is the final installment of my three-part series on domestic violence, an issue which I believed too complex for one column I’ve now come to realize might be too complex indeed for three.  Indeed, next week will see the summing up, in one column, of some of the salient points I’ve been making in this and the previous two installments.
That said, before I move on to some prescriptions that might help alleviate what is close to a national epidemic, I want to return to, and explore further, what may be the root cause of this particular social ill – the perception of gender roles.
When it comes to gender in Guyana, we are the victims of several unfortunate circumstances, both historical and contemporary.  I mentioned above the absence of the word ‘obey’, or any other word implying the same obligation, in Kate Middleton’s vows.  That that omission is notable, and probably precedent-setting, in an age in which women have enjoyed far greater rights than at any other period in history shows that even the progressive, developed world has had a bit of a tough time in escaping centuries-long traditions that place women a step below men.
Just a little over a generation out of British colonial rule, our national concept of gender roles – as is the case with dozens of colonial-era social behaviour patterns and traditions – has not lagged behind the evolution that has happened in the very country which was largely responsible for it in the first place.  Add that to the patriarchal systems which developed under both plantation slavery and indentureship and we have a society in which women have traditionally occupied the lower rung of the ladder of the sexual hierarchy.
In short, we conceive as men inherently being on top, regardless of the situation.  It’s been so ingrained in us, in our way of doing things, that we don’t notice it.  For example, simple as it may be, think of how many standard official forms you might have had to fill up that were clearly designed to suit a male applicant with provisions for his spouse incidentally included.
While that might seem to be a lighter manifestation of the overall concept of a society that has a perception that men are automatically more important than women, in my view the logic behind it is the very thing that makes the men who abuse women feel  that they have  implicit permission to do so.
As I mentioned in the last article, there seems to have been- and I admit that there is no concrete evidence to support my supposition- a direct correlation – at least judging from the frequency of cases appearing in the media – between the growing social and economic power women are winning for themselves, and the level of violence that is being meted out to them.  The more you see women driving cars, being appointed to senior positions in both the public and private sectors, excelling over their male counterparts academically, it appears that the more reports there are of women being attacked, injured, killed by their domestic partners.  This might run counter to the prevailing wisdom, but it appears that at present empowerment of women has come, and is still coming, at a steep cost in blood and tears.
I believe that the very first step in really tackling domestic violence is to hold a national initiative that seeks to gauge and analyse prevailing attitudes toward gender and violence.  I’m talking about a multifaceted programme which tackles the issue from a wide range of perspectives.  For example, a study can be conducted  to see how closely the attitude of the average Guyanese man differs from  universally accepted traits, which show a predisposition towards domestic violence, in whatever form.  Or a survey can be taken to see if there is any nexus between the difference in earning power within relationships and the incidence of domestic violence.
Once this mapping of our national sentiment on gender roles and violence is undertaken, the next step should be the formation of a Parliamentary committee on domestic violence, the ultimate aim being the establishment of a National Commission on Domestic Violence, or some similar mechanism; in short, a body that is going to coordinate policy on domestic violence across ministries and other state agencies, in much the same way that the Rights of the Child Commission functions.
With this oversight body in place, we would be able to start tackling the issue in a holistic manner.  For example, as I stated in the previous article, this is a national issue and requires a national approach.  Once the political will to tackle it is both established in a tangible form, then space needs to be created for the NGOs, religious organisations and community groups to be involved.  And within the wider public sector, systems for capturing information on the prevalence of the problem can be put in place, from the placing of a focal point social worker in all ministries, to the inclusion of a simple non-prejudicial, non sex-specific, domestic violence component to all public sector application forms – have you, a sample question might ask, been exposed to or involved in any domestic violence within the past X years?
Finally, and because this problem has so much to do with our perception of  gender roles, particularly the implied positive sanction that so many men attach to abuse, I believe that we need a comprehensive and draconian system of shaming men into resisting the urge to be violent towards women.
Now, from the research I’ve done, there are fairly strong arguments which have been made against the efficacy of using shame as a tool for the prevention of crime, particular in America.  For example, criticism made against the US television show, To Catch a Predator, concerns the fact that the show was more a media circus than an actually effective mechanism – as it was implied by the producers and supporters – for lowering the rates of predatory paedophilia.
That said, I think there are other, stronger arguments for the use of shame, particularly within our social context.  For example, we live in a relatively small, socially conservative society, as opposed to the one in which people can effectively disappear in some unknown backwater thousands of miles from where they started out.  Additionally, we haven’t yet become numbed to overexposure in the media, and there is still some consequence attached to scandal, for want of a better word. 
The system I have in mind would work much like the sex offenders registry in the United States, a system wherein convicted abusers would have their identities published in some widely accessible format, and their presence in a new neighbourhood indicated in the case of them moving.
In closing, let me reiterate – Minister Priya Manickhand has done tremendous work, taking the fight against this scourge light years forward from what obtained before.  Yet the issue of domestic violence has been lurking under the surface of this society, coming closer to the top in previous years, but never really coming into the public sphere as it should.  It’s time this changes. (burrowesk@yahoo.com)